What Worship Leaders Need for Great Stage Presence Cont. (Part 2)

By Dwayne Moore

The following is the second a three part post on the five things worship leaders need for great stage presence. For part 1 of the post, go here!

3. Communication

There are several ways we can communicate as we stand on the platform. To most effective, our team needs understand what each of those are and how they can individually utilize these various ways. Ways to communicate:

•With our words

•With our body language

•With our facial expressions

•With our eyes

•With our voices and instruments

Body language is one of the most powerful and convincing ways to communicate. We can say we are excited or broken, etc. But it is what we express with our bodies that will either convince someone or make them doubt our words.

There are times when words are needed—for transitions between songs, for example. When someone speaks from the platform, be sure they simplify their thoughts to only speak what is necessary to get the message across. Moments of speaking should long enough to be effective, but not so long that we’re redundant or distracting. Stick to one simple point.

Give them a reason to turn their toward the platform and listen to what you and your team are trying communicate. And if you can sing and are enthusiastic on the platform, you should also sing and participate off stage. When we walk off the stage at the end of our set, if we pick up our phone up and check out of the service, what are we communicating to the congregation? Without meaning to, we’re saying the message or the remaining part of the service isn’t important to us. Everything we do—on and off stage—matters because it’s part of how and what we communicate.

4. Charisma

A great definition for charisma is “divinely conferred power or talent.” Ever notice how there’s something special about some worship teams when they lead? Maybe it’s their humility from the stage that strikes you; or maybe it’s their meekness or their simplicity; or perhaps it’s the power of their voices. It could be a lot of things. It’s rarely one quality that stands out. People just tend to be drawn to certain people when they lead, and it’s hard to say why that is. It could include cheerfulness, enthusiasm, responsive to those in the congregation. But ultimately there’s no way to really explain it other than God’s hand must be on them.

Charisma is the one of those things we can’t develop or “make happen.” Because it’s “divinely conferred,” only the Lord can give us this powerful attribute. Nonetheless, we can help encourage this quality by first of all being filled with the Spirit when we lead, and secondly, by being sensitive to the people and the environment in the room. We need to constantly remind our band and singers to be aware of what’s going on around them. Sensitivity to others and to the circumstances around us can help us be more tactful when we lead. Sometimes leaders just get up there and seem to go at it without any kind of filter on what they say or do. Ultimately, if we lack tact and a thoughtfulness on how we present ourselves and interact with the people in the congregation, then we can turn people off before we get a chance to lead them.

I don’t think we have to jump all around the stage and break guitars, mind you. However, I do think there needs to be a genuine enthusiasm about each person on the platform. There should be a joy that comes out of us. Genuine joy will supernaturally draw others to us and help us lead them to worship our heavenly Father.

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