Messaging is critical in any marketing campaign. The wrong message to the wrong audience and all you your effort is a miss. No organization has only one audience. Even if your organization has the most homogeneous target audience, say retired male teachers, it might be at different levels of engagement with the organization: some have never heard of it; some have just been exposed to your services; others are members; and you might even have a volunteer force that helps you fulfill your mission. Since budgets are always tight, the temptation is to create materials (brochures, mailers, email blasts, visuals) that communicate to the entire target audience. Unfortunately that seldom works. What to do then? Identify your stakeholders. Every marketing campaign my company puts together involves a strategic session where we identify the target audience(s) and their level of engagement or commitment. Know who they are, their motivations, and the…

How do you prepare for your speaking engagements? Pastors have to prepare a message every week, sometimes two or even three messages in the course of a few days. The pressure is always on to deliver something that will challenge, motivate, inspire and ultimately cause people to move from complacency and the status quo into a deeper relationship with God.  While most pastors believe that God is the One who does the changing and convincing, they are also aware they’re called to be a spokesperson for things that are sacred and cannot abdicate their responsibility to prepare. Recently I interviewed Mike Slaughter, Sr. Pastor of Ginghamsburg Church, and he shared with me in the video below how he prepares the message that he delivers 5 times each weekend. How do you prepare for a message or presentation?