The 45 second song intro

You’ve heard it before, haven’t you?

"Preachers shouldn't sing and song leaders shouldn’t preach.”

Well, this is partly true. But it sure doesn’t mean preachers shouldn’t worship and song leaders should be mute!

There is a craft to introducing songs well. I’ve learned so much about this over the last few years. Here are some things that help me.

1. Let the music speak for itself. If no introduction is needed, leave it alone. 
2. Say what serves the people, not the leader. 
3. Use words that are real life; don’t be so professorial that you’re not personal.
4. Learn what you want to say so deeply that you don’t need to read it. This may start with research, writing, and rehearsing.
5. Talk like you talk. Talk about the same things on the platform that you’d talk about off; be natural.
6. Keep it short. Work hard on this. It’s easier to talk for 4-5 minutes than 45 seconds. But 45 seconds is almost always enough.
7. Practice. Do this before you meet with the team. Do it in rehearsal. And especially do it in the sound check; it is essential to do that if there’ll be an instrument playing while you talk.

Thoughts? Comments? What works for you?