Less Clutter, Less Noise: 8) Reduce the Noise

I’ve blogged about the cost of clutter and noise before. Just like me on my blog Clear and Simple, in this chapter I think Kem too is gripped by the fact that the world is becoming more and more saturated with advertising messages, information overload and that the church isn’t excluded from this.

The church is just as guilty as the rest of the world. In our effort to transform the world we think that if we bombard people with the same amount of information at least some of it will get through. It’s like we think that if people had a invisible force field and the sheer amount of information we throw at them a bit moves through that wall of protection then our job is done.

Kem writes about another age old problem that many churches face. I’ve faced it too. Everyone thinks that if only they can get the anchor or video news to announce their ministry event then it will be a success. Kem suggests that without a framework in place there is no way to decide what gets talked about and what doesn’t. Granger’s communications team has a set of values and priorities that determine what gets promoted and what doesn’t.

As she says, the question shouldn’t be who decides whether the event gets announced or not, but rather what drives it.

Kem recommends that you:

• Invest minimal resources into print materials.
• Identify one place to keep all information up-to-date.

So to honour Kem (yes my American cousins, that is how you spell it 😉 and her call to us all to reduce the noise, I’ve kept this blog post very short. I could give you a million solutions, but I don’t want to add to the clutter in your life.

Over to you: Questions to ask yourself before you communicate:

1) Will this information I intend to be helpful with just add to the clutter?

2) Is there any way to simplify what my audience sees to make their experience with the church easier and more rewarding?

7) Remove Barriers to Entry <– Less Clutter, Less Noise –> 9) Tell One Story at a Time

stevefogg

I’m husband to one, father to 3, Communications guy to a church called Crossway. You can read my blog or follow me on Twitter @SteveFogg