http://prochurchtools.com/041 - Justin Driedger is a church planter. And he's also a stage design nerd. He's managed to stick to a church planter's budget and still create beautiful stage and lighting designs at his church. In this session of the podcast, he shares how we can do the very same thing.

http://prochurchtools.com/040 - Did you know Google+ is the second largest social network on the planet? True story. And that statistic is based on active users, not just registered users. Dustin Stout is a power user of Google+. He stopped by the Pro Church Podcast to share how churches can actually use Google+ and demystify this misunderstood social platform.

http://prochurchtools.com/039 - Is your church making any of these costly Twitter mistakes? Peter Guirguis has 138,000 followers on Twitter, and he shares with Pro Church Nation the top 10 mistakes you're making on Twitter and how to fix them.

http://prochurchtools.com/038 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast, you'll learn how to edit your podcast, where to host it online, how to make your voice sound like a radio host, and I share my top 5 podcasting tips.

http://prochurchtools.com/037 - Publishing your church's audio podcast each week can be a complicated matter. In this session of the Pro Church Podcast we discuss why your church might want to create a podcast, what gear you need, and what type of content to cover in your podcast. Part 1 of 2.

http://prochurchtools.com/036 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I speak with Scott Trapasso of Media That Matters. Scott is a video producer and storyteller and he shares some next-level video techniques that will elevate your video production skills.

http://prochurchtools.com/035 - Are acoustic driven worship bands on the way out? What's the relationship between church media & worship songs? Chris Vacher, a Creative Arts Pastor and worship leader veteran, joins me on the Pro Church Podcast. Chris shares his thoughts on the link between church media and Sunday morning worship.

http://prochurchtools.com/033 - Matt Morrison of churchos.com gives us a master class on church websites in this session of the Pro Church Podcast. We discuss the fact that 95% of people will check out your church online before visiting in person, and why out of date content is the perhaps the biggest error your church's website can make.

http://prochurchtools.com/034 - Planning a sermon series can seem like a lot of work. But in this session of the Pro Church Podcast, Justin Trapp walks us through a 6-step process for planning your church's next sermon series. He also gave me a free worksheet to distribute to Pro Church Nation. The worksheet outlines each of the 6 steps with room for notes and ideas.

http://prochurchtools.com/032 - Creating a vision video for your church can be a daunting task. Where do you start? In this session of the podcast I walk you through the three stages of creating a vision video, and how you can do it for less than $100.

http://prochurchtools.com/031 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I welcome two special mystery guests for a church media round table. Today also marks the launch of the Church Graphics Handbook. A very special today all around!

http://prochurchtools.com/030 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast, I welcome Mitchel Hughes to the show. Mitchel is the very first employee of Pro Church Tools Inc. His official title is Video Announcements Director, but he is also in charge of creating all the graphics that we produce for churches. He shares his experience of learning Photoshop, and how churches can begin to create better graphics.

http://prochurchtools.com/029 - Sometimes I receive questions from Pro Church Nation that are bit too difficult for me to answer. For this reason, I asked Tim Peters to come onto the Pro Church Podcast and answer some tough questions. Tim is a church communications veteran, and with his experience he takes his best shot at these uncomfortable questions.

http://prochurchtools.com/028 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I sit down for an interview with Dave Shrein. Dave is the host of the Church Marketing Podcast and founder of his own brand development company Shrein Media. Dave shares the secret ingredient to church media, as well as his thoughts on print media vs. digital media.

http://prochurchtools.com/027 - You don't have to be a designer to create beautiful church graphics. In this session of the podcast I share three best practices for your church's graphic design efforts. I also share the single biggest project I've ever announced for Pro Church Tools.

http://prochurchtools.com/026 - Jonathan Malm stopped by the Pro Church Podcast for an in-depth interview on church stage design. Jonathan shares the easiest & most inexpensive way to re-design your church stage. We also discuss Jonathan's new book Created for More - a 30-day devotional written for creative Christians.

http://prochurchtools.com/025 - Shooting video with a green screen can be tricky. How do you setup the lights? What kind of green screen should you use? What are the best post-production tips & tricks? This session of the Pro Church Podcast provides a comprehensive introduction to greens screens and chroma key.

http://prochurchtools.com/024 - Sean Cannell, the author of YouTube for Churches stopped by the Pro Church Podcast and gave us one of the best interviews we've ever had. In this session you'll learn the best tips & tricks for your church's YouTube channel and you'll get a chance to win 1 of 3 copies of YouTube for Churches by Sean Cannell.

http://prochurchtools.com/023 - In this session of the podcast I finally address a question I've been dodging for more than a year - "How do I record and live stream my church's services?"

http://prochurchtools.com/022 - There's a pervasive belief that the most important type of church media is recording and live streaming your services. But your church's resources could be stewarded in a much better way. These are the 8 main reasons your church should reconsider recording its services.

http://prochurchtools.com/021 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I share my top 3 camera recommendations for your church. The current landscape of the camera industry is a crazy one. Manufacturers are in an arms race and each keeps trying to outdo the others. While your camera may only be in the top of its class for six months, these are my top 3 current recommendations regardless.

http://prochurchtools.com/020 - Your church should really be blogging. Wait, your church isn't blogging yet? That's alright. This session of the Pro Church Podcast will get you pointed in the right direction.

http://prochurchtools.com/019 - Nils Smith is the innovation pastor at Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. He's also the author of the book The Social Media Guide for Ministry. He's also one of the key cogs at the new social media tool for churches, Faith Social. Nils stopped by the podcast and we discussed some of my questions and concerns concerning Faith Social, and the trajectory of the church and social media.

http://prochurchtools.com/018 - Using backing tracks in your worship experience is very popular right now. Here's how your church can do it for under $200, and do it well.

http://prochurchtools.com/017 - Jeremy Smith of 78p.tv stopped by the Pro Church Podcast and we discussed his new book 'Digital Marketing for Churches that Want to Succeed.' Make sure you listen to the end because we're giving away 3 copies of his book - I'll tell how to win one at the end.

http://prochurchtools.com/016 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I share 6 ridiculous church media stats. These stats blew my mind when I first heard them. They don't make any sense. And they reveal big problems in our church's media efforts. Never fear though, I have a phenomenal solution.

http://prochurchtools.com/015 - The hardest part of your church media journey doesn't have anything to do with the necessary skills, gear, or talent. It has everything to do with mindset. I couldn't get over this for a long time.

http://prochurchtools.com/014 - We’ve produced more than 1000 video announcements in the last year. It’s not easy being a presenter for video announcements. And it’s very different than being a presenter live and on stage. Here I share 10 tips that you can use to be a great video announcements presenter. I’ll also tell you what camera we use to shoot every one of our video announcements.

10 Video Presenter Tips

1. You're on camera, not doing this live, so tone it down
2. Facial expressions are more important than hand gestures
3. Don't read announcements as if they are written
4. Invest your own, real personality in your presentation
5. Avoid novelty or kitschy humor, costumes or characters
6. Do not exceed 3 minutes
7. Use a signature tag line
8. Have a signature fashion style
9. Watch yourself on video and judge your performance
10. Be patient with yourself; excellence takes time

http://prochurchtools.com/013 - Using the right tools can propel your church website from ordinary to extraordinary. In this session I share 16 website tools I use to ensure my websites are running at their peak potential.

16 Website Tools I Can't Believe You're Not Already Using

1. Google Analytics
2. Clicky
3. Serpfox
4. Crazy Egg
5. Click Tale
6. Typekit
7. Squarespace
8. Unsplash
9. Picjumbo
10. Gratisography
11. ThemeForest
12. Email capture form
13. Pippity
14. Mailchimp
15. Facebook Like Box
16. Responsive website

http://prochurchtools.com/012 - Church websites all look the same. Well, for the most part. They have a certain feel to them. It wouldn’t be hard to pick out the church site from a website lineup. They just have a distinguishable look. In this session I share 3 of the most popular church website trends and why I'd like to see them end.

http://prochurchtools.com/011 - Our guest on the show today is Jeff McIntosh, the director of Church Motion Graphics. Jeff is also the author of The Worship Media Handbook and he shares the simplest way to improve your church's media. We also giveaway 3 copies of Jeff's book - stick around until the end of the session for that.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• The very best deal in church media. 15 brand-new motion backgrounds every month from Church Motion Graphics for only $10/month. Seriously, the best value around. Get it here.
• Jeff is the author of The Worship Media Handbook. A steal of a deal for only $19.99.
• Jeff's #1 font recommendation for lyric projection - Gill Sans. Download it here.

http://prochurchtools.com/010 - Kendall Conner of TheCreativePastor.com stops by and we have a discussion about all things church media. If you stick around until the end of this session I also share how you can get a BRAND NEW & FREE worship motion background every single month.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• Kendall Conner's popular blog TheCreativePastor.com
• ProPresenter
• Church Motion Graphics Monthly Mega Packs
• HootSuite
• Buffer
• Follow Kendall on Twitter @creativepastor
• Get a NEW & FREE motion background every single month

http://prochurchtools.com/009 - If you've worked or volunteered in a church for more than an hour you've probably come across this mindset: "Well, we just don't have enough money for that." But a lack of resources isn't what will inevitably stop your church from moving forward in quality and quantity of media; dwelling on it, however, will.

http://prochurchtools.com/008 - In this session of the Pro Church Podcast I continue my conversation with Pastor Brett Esslinger from last week. We talk about video announcements, traditional vs. contemporary worship services, confetti canons, awkward video pauses, and that's just the beginning.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• Follow Pastor Brett on Twitter here.
• ProPresenter: mentioned and highly recommended on the podcast.
• Brand new motions graphics every single month from Church Motion Graphics for only $10/month!
• Haters Video

Brett Esslinger, senior pastor at Engage City Church answers questions about media in the church in this session of the Pro Church Podcast.

2 Instant Takeaways

1. Digital relevancy is subjective. Younger congregations, urban congregations, or pastors with a strong media emphasis will have different ideas about how much media to bring into the church. When making your choice, consider your demographic. But keep in mind that young people -- and this includes everyone under 35 -- live lives embedded with media, technology, images and digital effects. If your church wants to attract that demographic, you need to speak their language.
2. Don't be a miracle worker. If you are the worship media person at your church, back off on the complicated stealth maneuvers that save the day. You are scrambling to meet a standard that no one else can meet (and that includes you) so make it easier on yourself and other volunteers by investing in decent software that minimizes errors, hangups, delays, buffering and frozen screens.

http://prochurchtools.com/007 - How do you convince stubborn leaders that media is important? I thought the best person to answer this question was a lead pastor himself. On this session of the Pro Church Podcast I have a discussion with Pastor Brett Esslinger, the lead pastor of Engage City Church. We talk about closed minded pastors, and what NOT to say when you're proposing a church media idea to leadership.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• Follow Pastor Brett on Twitter here.
• ProPresenter: mentioned and highly recommended on the podcast.

3 Instant Takeaways

1. Make allies. If you're a media-savvy churchgoer or volunteer with great media ideas, get some weight and influence on board before you approach senior leadership. No doubt you know exactly what you're talking about, but gaining some credibility with other leadership will make it easier for the senior leader to value your input. Once you have an audience, be sure you have a solid plan to present.
2. Come under the church's vision. While you may have the best media ideas ever imagined, you won't get any traction if your vision contradicts the church's. Bring your digital plans to the leadership in ways that media will enhance and support the current goals. Find the intersection between the church's passions and your own.
3. Don't start with an all-in approach. Walking up to your pastor with a comprehensive makeover -- fog machines, expensive stage lights, and stage backdrops -- is probably too much too soon. Introduce a few useful, purposeful changes and keep a long-term perspective. Too much change can freak people out.

http://prochurchtools.com/006 - The songs you play before church starts and after church ends are very important. It's easy to think of this portion of church as a throwaway time. But wait! Don't. Choosing the right songs can positively impact your church service in ways you've never likely considered. Plus, it's free and easy.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

5 Practical Tips For Choosing Better Songs To Play

1. Don't play a song you're about to play in worship as well. It's not fair to your worship band.
2. Match the energy of the church service (ie. Good Friday = solemn; Easter Sunday = high energy)
3. Play music that matches your church's story & culture, or the story & culture that you're trying to build.
4. Time the playlist to have no gaps and sync well with the countdown.
5. Make the playlist consistent with genre, tempo, and emotion.

Highly Ambitious Playlist

1. Alive - Hillsong Young & Free (remixed by pKal) 
2. My Lighthouse - Rend Collective (remixed by pKal)
3. Break Every Chain - Jesus Culture (remixed by Kevin Aleksander & pKal)
4. Your Love Never Fails - Jesus Culture (remix)
5. I Know - Lecrae (Cardec drums remix)
6. You Are My Vision (remixed by pKal)
7. Where the Spirit of the Lord Is (remixed by Leandro Alencar)
8. Tell the World (remixed by Matthew Parker)
9. God's Great Dance Floor (remixed by pKal)
10. Relentless (Young & Free remix)

More Average Playlist

• My Lighthouse - Rend Collective
• Joy - Rend Collective
• Every Little Bit of Praise - The Royal Royal
• The Lights - The Royal Royal
• New Song - Carlos Whittaker
• In Sync - Hillsong Young & Free
• Brighter - Hillsong Young & Free
• Praise Him - The Royal Royal

iTunes Tip For Seamless Transitions

You don't have to be a crazy DJ with mad skills, or mad hardware to seamlessly transition songs and avoid those nasty silent moments. This playback tricks works inside of iTunes and it crossfades the playback of two songs. For instance, when a song has 5 seconds remaining, iTunes will begin to fade that song out while automatically fading the next song in simultaneously.

Here's how to set up iTunes to automatically transition songs seamlessly:

• Click on Preferences
• Click on Playback
• Check the Crossfade Songs option
• Choose your crossfade time interval (between 5-10 seconds is recommended)

And that's how it's done! Do you have any songs or remixes you can recommend? Let me know in the comments!

http://prochurchtools.com/005 - It's finally here! ProChurchTools.com has a brand new look! In this session we'll discuss the new design and why we made the choices we did. We'll also talk about the 3 cores of a quality church website.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• The 3 basic elements of a church brand
• The easiest way I know to create a quality church logo

Three core, essential, foundational features of a good church website, in this session of the Pro Church Podcast.

3 Instant Takeaways

1. Give your website one focus. Your church website should have one clear goal that drives its entire structure. Your homepage should have only one or two 'calls to action' which visitors to your site immediately see. As well, your menu should only have 4-6 pages, all of which are consistent with your main goal: whether that is inviting visitors to your church, ministering to your existing church, or creating evangelistic content. If your main goal is to attract visitors, leave pages or information for 'insiders' accessible through a smaller channel like a link on your footer.
2. What can you remove? And don't say, "Nothing." Chances are, unless you've recently done a minimalist redesign (in which case, feel free to skip this part) your website has extraneous clutter. A busy slider, social media icons, extra buttons, your latest sermon series plus lots of other activities, a calendar of events . . . have I hit one yet? Pare your site down to its core message and purpose.
3. Solidify your brand. Your logo, your color theme, and your fonts should be consistent across your website. That means every single page needs the same color family and fonts. That doesn't mean you can't use more than one color or font, but that you should choose a minimum amount and stick with them.

http://prochurchtools.com/004 - Video is one of our biggest focuses at Pro Church Tools. There are simply so many opportunities to inject video into your church services. In this session of the Pro Church Podcast we explore 18 different avenues.

http://prochurchtools.com/003 - Church media can be daunting. It can feel like there's just so much to learn, and if you're starting from scratch it can be intimidating. But this is how I started, and if I can do it...so can you.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

If you want to excel in church media you don't need any prior experience, or necessary skills. You just need a willingness to learn and a desire to improve.

• The first video I ever made (scroll down half the page)
• Music from the album my wife (girlfriend at the time) did together

http://prochurchtools.com/002 - The future of church media revolves around your church. And your church's story. It's not about mass production and following the big guys. It's about identifying your church's unique story and letting that influence every type of media you produce. But how do you find that story? Just ask yourself these 5 questions.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

Identifying your church's unique story and narrative isn't always easy - but it's absolutely necessary. And once you figure it out it should inform every type of media your church produces.

• Branding interview with Mars Hill
• State Farm advertisement (focusing on the convenience and comfort)
• Progressive advertisement (focusing on the price)

5 Action Steps

1. Identify church leadership
2. Examine your church's size
3. Examine church demographics
4. Identify church talents
5. Identify church values

Switchfoot Lyrics

I wanna thrive not just survive
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
You and I were meant to live for so much more
I made a mess of me, I wanna get back the rest of me
I’m ready to come alive, I’m not waiting for the afterlife

Beginning to see a trend? Switchfoot has found their niche in the alt-rock scene. They continue to sing the same song over again - but not in a bad way. They voice their story and narrative and they do it better than most.

http://prochurchtools.com/001 - What does the future of church media look like? It's not doing what the church down the road is doing. It's not doing what the big guys are doing. In the very first session of the Pro Church Podcast we'll explore the future of church media and what to expect.

Show Notes & Resources Mentioned

• Take the Millennial Quiz - Click Here
• Millennials aren't materialistic. Newsweek even says so. Read the article.

The very first session of the Pro Church Tools podcast, where we discuss the future of church media.

2 Instant Takeaways

1. Millennials are the future. And Millennials love anything tech: videos, devices, on-demand content, live streaming, mobile giving, and worship with backing tracks. The church Millennials grew up with the "staged" church; but they want the "experiential" church. This generation is so media-saturated that they can smell hype a mile away and long for authenticity. All of this needs to be taken into account by the church if they want to reach out to next gen believers.
2. Every church speaks with its own voice. In the past, the church may have done things because other churches did it, because it was tradition, because it was the default. In a crowded, loud culture, churches can use media to differentiate themselves from the crowd.