Big Is The New Small

Great illustration of how God, Faith & Focus will help you reach your God potential.

Share your thoughts on this video and how American Idol in general helps people reach their potential.

• 1. Saddleback is developing ministry leaders. You don’t have to be seminary grads- people from all majors, all schools, and careers are key to building a pool large enough to plant the number of churches the world needs. They aren’t limiting the pool of leaders to only seminary grads.
• 2. Saddleback prepares leaders by letting them lead.
• 3. Saddleback is preparing Church planters, multi-site campus pastors, and ministry leaders through 1yr programs.
• 4. Academy participants learn from Saddleback pastors, staff and learn in the following areas: Adult Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Student Ministry Worship, Adult Worship Arts & Church Administration.
• 5. There is always the intangibles of Southern California and Orange County.
• 6. The resources, scale, pace, credibility, culture, methods, strategies, and effectiveness of Saddleback Church
• 7. An awesome place to live – “The Ranch.”

I could go on and on with a lengthy post about the Academy; however Saddleback has put together a very detailed and descriptive program for you to read through.  I encourage you to take a look at all of the different areas, it might be an excellent opportunity for you, your friends or family.  Be sure to check out the different type of program areas: LAUNCH, ELEVATE, ACCELERATE, & DISCOVER.

Active Network, a technology and media company has acquired online church management software provider Fellowship Technologies, known by many as (Fellowship One or F1.) As a result of the acquisition, Active Network will expand its technology offerings within the faith industry and provide a comprehensive suite of solutions for these community organizations.

Fellowship One will now be added to Active’s suite of products, which serves over 75,000 community, non-profit and business clients worldwide. Some of their featured customers include: Starbucks, Ironman, Oracle and Bose.

According to research there are more than 300,000 churches in North America alone. As the largest provider of software solutions to the faith-based market, Fellowship Technologies counts for more than 1,700 churches as clients, including 36 percent of North America’s largest churches.

At LifeChurch.tv we are one of the many large churches that uses Fellowship One’s technology.   LifeChurch.tv Innovation Pastor and Innovation leader Bobby Gruenwald talks about Fellowship One and their partnership with Active network, “Fellowship Technologies has been a valued partner in ministry with LifeChurch.tv for over 3 years. Their passion for leveraging technology for churches to connect with people and communities matches well with the mission of our church.  We are excited about what the combination of Fellowship Technologies and Active Network holds for our church and others.”

In my humble opinion, it sounds like the best may have just gotten better.  Jeff Hook, president and CEO of Fellowship Technologies said, “We still have the same God-sized vision and we still have the same management team and staff. With this acquisition, however, we believe churches across the globe will be better served, and we can improve the scale and quality of the solutions available… Joining with Active Network will accelerate our efforts to raise the bar… again.”

The Largest Church Management System is Now Bigger and Better.

Check out the video announcement below from Fellowship Technologies President Jeff Hook.

Raising The Bar Announcement from Fellowship Technologies on Vimeo.

I was recently re-reading an old Business Week article entitled The Great Communicators; which outlined some secrets of the worlds greatest business communicators.  Effective communication is skill that we can all learn and polish; it’s about the ability to be persuasive, believable, inspirational, charismatic, authentic and overall magnetic.

We are all drawn to different styles of communicators; however the end result to effective communication is the same, the communicators were able to take us on a journey and make us like it.  It doesn’t matter if you are a: SAHM, Pastor, CEO, Teacher, Politician, Worship Leader, Customer Service Rep., Leader, Coach… we can all learn from effective communicators.  Here are 12 Tips from some of the world’s best business communicators and a bonus one from me:

1. Jack Welch (Former CEO of General Electric)-  Best communication asset: Simplicity   Tip: Eliminate jargon.
2. Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple)- Best communication asset: Charisma  Tip: Create and articulate a bold vision.
3. Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)- Best communication asset: Penchant for listening  Tip: Seek feedback.
4. John Chambers (CEO of Cisco Systems)- Best communication asset: Preparedness  Tip: Review and rehearse your presentation.
5. David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue Airways)- Best communication asset: Talent for storytelling  Tip: Tell tales that inspire.
6. Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)- Best communication asset: Passion  Tip: Identify and share what you’re passionate about.
7. Suze Orman (Author, TV Host)- Best communication asset: Clarity of expression  Tip: Break down complex information into easy parts.
8. Rudy Giuliani (Former NYC Mayor)- Best communication asset: Ability to make eye contact  Tip: Spend 90% of the time looking at your audience.
9. John Thompson(CEO of Symantec)- Best communication asset: Facileness with optimistic language  Tip: Employ powerful and positive words.
10. Klaus Kleinfeld (CEO of Siemens)- Best communication asset: Ability to reinvent  Tip: Stay fresh, remain current.
11. Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle)- Best communication asset: Looking like a leader  Tip: Pay attention to what your wardrobe says about you.
12. Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group)- Best communication asset: Generosity with praise  Tip: Lavish appropriate praise on employees, customers, and colleagues.
13. Scott Williams (CEO of This Blog)- Best communication asset: Being yourself   Tip: Don’t try to emulate or be someone else, people recognize a phony from a mile away.  Do You!  It’s a Statement… Not a Question!  Second Tip: Authenticity is Key!

Who are some of your favorite communicators and why?  Do you have any additional tips to add?

Do we have it all right or do we have it all wrong? Share your thoughts!

Twitter has many benefits and can be an effective tool for a long list of things.  One of the many important benefits of Twitter is that it can make you a better Communicator.  By definition a communicator is- one skilled at conveying information, ideas, or policy to the public. Everything you Twitter is public and theses “tweets” or public communication can help you to become a more effective overall communicator.

This list below illustrates 8 Ways Twitter Can Improve Your Communication Skills:

1. You  learn to keep you communication pithy.  All communication has to be short, to the point and effective all at the same time.
2. You have to think before you tweet, similar to the need to think before you speak. Be Careful What You Tweet.
3. You have the opportunity to be a student of both effective and ineffective communication; there are millions of Tweeps that fall into both categories.
4. You have to learn the art of crafting your message specifically for your audience. What does your audience want to hear from you?  What makes them listen?
5. You have to find your voice and your style.  Are your tweets random, informational, educational, inspirational…   Effective communicators are authentic, real and have no problem being themselves.  Be Yourself!
6. You learn to embrace the fact that just because you talk doesn’t mean people will listen, developing your audience and creating a tribe is a craft.
7. You learn that if you share something that is worthy of repeating people will afford you the courtesy of re-tweeting.  {That Rhymed}
8. You have to learn that there are times when you need to communicate a lot and there are times when it’s simply OK to say nothing at all.

Do any of these resonate with you?  Share any additional ways that Twitter can improve your Communication Skills?

I was recently re-reading an old Business Week article entitled The Great Communicators; which outlined some secrets of the worlds greatest business communicators.  Effective communication is skill that we can all learn and polish; it’s about the ability to be persuasive, believable, inspirational, charismatic, authentic and overall magnetic. 

We are all drawn to different styles of communicators; however the end result to effective communication is the same, the communicators were able to take us on a journey and make us like it.  It doesn’t matter if you are a: SAHM, Pastor, CEO, Teacher, Politician, Worship Leader, Customer Service Rep., Leader, Coach… we can all learn from effective communicators.  Here are 12 Tips from some of the world’s best business communicators and a bonus one from me:

1. Jack Welch (Former CEO of General Electric)-  Best communication asset: Simplicity   Tip: Eliminate jargon.
2. Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple)- Best communication asset: Charisma  Tip: Create and articulate a bold vision.
3. Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)- Best communication asset: Penchant for listening  Tip: Seek feedback.
4. John Chambers (CEO of Cisco Systems)- Best communication asset: Preparedness  Tip: Review and rehearse your presentation.
5. David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue Airways)- Best communication asset: Talent for storytelling  Tip: Tell tales that inspire.
6. Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)- Best communication asset: Passion  Tip: Identify and share what you’re passionate about.
7. Suze Orman (Author, TV Host)- Best communication asset: Clarity of expression  Tip: Break down complex information into easy parts.
8. Rudy Giuliani (Former NYC Mayor)- Best communication asset: Ability to make eye contact  Tip: Spend 90% of the time looking at your audience.
9. John Thompson(CEO of Symantec)- Best communication asset: Facileness with optimistic language  Tip: Employ powerful and positive words.
10. Klaus Kleinfeld (CEO of Siemens)- Best communication asset: Ability to reinvent  Tip: Stay fresh, remain current.
11. Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle)- Best communication asset: Looking like a leader  Tip: Pay attention to what your wardrobe says about you.
12. Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group)- Best communication asset: Generosity with praise  Tip: Lavish appropriate praise on employees, customers, and colleagues.
13. Scott Williams (CEO of This Blog)- Best communication asset: Being yourself   Tip: Don’t try to emulate or be someone else, people recognize a phony from a mile away.  Do You!  It’s a Statement… Not a Question!

Who are some of your favorite communicators and why?  Do you have any additional tips to add?

Twitter has many benefits and can be an effective tool for a long list of things.  One of the important benefits of Twitter is that it can make you a better Communicator.  This list below illustrates 7 Ways Twitter Can Improve Your Communication Skills:

1. You  learn to keep you communication pithy.  All communication has to be short, to the point and effective all at the same time.
2. You have to think before you tweet, similar to the need to think before you speak.
3. You have the opportunity to be a student of both effective and ineffective communication; there are millions of Tweeps that fall into both categories.
4. You have to learn the art of crafting your message specifically for your audience. What does your audience want to hear from you?  What makes them listen?
5. You have to find your voice and your style.  Are your tweets random, informational, educational, inspirational…   Effective communicators are authentic, real and have no problem being themselves.  Be Yourself!
6. You learn to embrace the fact that just because you talk doesn’t mean people will listen, developing your audience and creating a tribe is a craft.
7. You have to learn that there are times when you need to communicate alot and there are times when it’s simply OK to say nothing at all.

Do any of these resonate with you?  Share any additional ways that Twitter can improve your Communication Skills? 

I was recently re-reading an old Business Week article entitled The Great Communicators; which outlined some secrets of the worlds greatest business communicators.  Effective communication is skill that we can all learn and polish; it’s about the ability to be persuasive, believable, inspirational, charismatic, authentic and overall magnetic. 

We are all drawn to different styles of communicators; however the end result to effective communication is the same, the communicators were able to take us on a journey and make us like it.  It doesn’t matter if you are a: SAHM, Pastor, CEO, Teacher, Politician, Worship Leader, Customer Service Rep., Leader, Coach… we can all learn from effective communicators.  Here are 12 Tips from some of the world’s best business communicators and a bonus one from me:

1. Jack Welch (Former CEO of General Electric)-  Best communication asset: Simplicity   Tip: Eliminate jargon
2. Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple)- Best communication asset: Charisma  Tip: Create and articulate a bold vision
3. Meg Whitman (CEO of Ebay)- Best communication asset: Penchant for listening  Tip: Seek feedback
4. John Chambers (CEO of Cisco Systems)- Best communication asset: Preparedness  Tip: Review and rehearse your presentation
5. David Neeleman (CEO of JetBlue Airways)- Best communication asset: Talent for storytelling  Tip: Tell tales that inspire
6. Howard Schultz (CEO of Starbucks)- Best communication asset: Passion  Tip: Identify and share what you’re passionate about
7. Suze Orman (Author, TV Host)- Best communication asset: Clarity of expression  Tip: Break down complex information into easy parts
8. Rudy Giuliani (Former NYC Mayor)- Best communication asset: Ability to make eye contact  Tip: Spend 90% of the time looking at your audience
9. John Thompson(CEO of Symantec)- Best communication asset: Facileness with optimistic language  Tip: Employ powerful and positive words
10. Klaus Kleinfeld (CEO of Siemens)- Best communication asset: Ability to reinvent  Tip: Stay fresh, remain current
11. Larry Ellison (CEO of Oracle)- Best communication asset: Looking like a leader  Tip: Pay attention to what your wardrobe says about you
12. Richard Branson (CEO of Virgin Group)- Best communication asset: Generosity with praise  Tip: Lavish appropriate praise on employees, customers, and colleagues
13. Scott Williams (Just a Guy)- Best communication asset: Being yourself   Tip: Don’t try to emulate or be someonelse, people recognize a phony from a mile away.  Do You!  It’s a Statement… Not a Question!

Who are some of your favorite communicators and why?  Do you have any additional tips to add?

The Urban Dictionary defines Yada Yada Yada as: A conversation gloss-over, similar to blah, blah, blah.

I had several people ask about the “New Communication Strategy” that I tried this weekend; in which I made reference to it in yesterday’s post.  The appropriate way for me to describe the strategy is the fact that it was a “Different New Communication Strategy” to our normal stage announcements.  “If we consistently communicate the same thing in the same way, it falls on deaf ears.”   Sam Roberts from the LifeChurch.tv Directional Leadership team calls it Numbness of Frequency. 

I call it Yada Yada Yada; in other-words when you, me, or someone else is communicating the same thing or maybe even something new but in the same old way, people start to say Yada Yada Yada in their head.  Here are some examples of Yada Yada Yada’s:

• On the airplane: floatation device, metal end into the Yada Yada Yada
• Announcement lady at church: pray for the sick and shut-in, prayer service Yada Yada Yada
• Pastor from stage: welcome everyone, so glad, awesome, amazing, fill-out, drop Yada Yada Yada

Sometimes you can break the chains of Yada Yada Yada just by changing things up.  This past weekend we actually did something that was a little over-the-top and gameshowish.  We did a spoof of the Netflix radio commercials: “If a pie is in the sky, where is the cake? In the Lake. Correct!, If you don’t know what you are looking for, what are you looking for? A LifeGroup. Correct!  If your mom commands you to always be nice and say thank you, who commands you to be Baptized? Jesus. Correct!…  We posed a series of these random goofy questions w/ repetitive answers that drove our key announcements home.

I had more people come up to me after the experience saying they liked it, it was neat, Yada Yada Yada.  we also polled people coming out to see if they remembered the key points and everyone did.  The bottom line is that it was fresh, and I have now bought myself some people-pay-attention-time until I do the next random thing.  It doesn’t have to always be over the top, just keep it random. 

Imagine if the flight attendant did a multiple choice test over the intercom and gave everyone the answers… I bet you would pay attention and understand the points, instead of in your mind going Yada Yada Yada.

• What are some situations in which you find yourself going Yada Yada Yada?  Church, Boss, Spouse…
• Share any creative communication that you have done or experienced!  Share any overall thoughts!