Kem Meyer on Less Clutter & Noise

Challenging each other to ruin lazy communications…

Last week I spent two intense days with a group of creative leaders and practitioners representing ten different churches from New York to California. We came from indie art, gritty cowboy, low income urban, exclusive suburb, bluegrass, hip hop, big city and small town communities. We’re an eclectic expression of methodologies, experience, philosophies, practices and contexts who will be spending the next six months together trying to get better at getting through.

I thought I’d share a few quotes I was able to jot down …

• "We are sometimes called to be a part of people's lives for a chapter rather than the whole book." @stevenstarfas
• "Don't forget what it's like not to believe." @stevenstarfas
• “It’s time to sunset that system.” @heyshan
• “Integrate family ministries instead of creating programs. Programs can actually fracture families.” @heyshan
• “Communicators should be curators.” @jeremyscheller
• “When your audience is already highly scheduled, don’t add more to their calendar. Work harder at creating avenues for them to find small spaces to respond to God.” @dgaff
• “You can’t cultivate great communication as a professional until you realize, as a human being, you’re not so different than the people you’re serving.” Mindy Owens
• “Communication is an art form, prepping the canvas for good art takes time.” @eyesofaith

Biggest communications challenge nobody talks about…

Yesterday, the smart and generous people at The Leadership Network and Catalyst sponsored The NINES online conference. Over 100 speakers had six minutes to share their best 'game-changing' moments. Here’s mine.

The biggest communication challenge that nobody talks about…

• The clutter we create when we overestimate what we have to say and underestimate how it’s going to affect the other person.

How to overcome it…

• Change internal M.O.
• Focus less on what we have to say and more on who we are saying it to.
• Personalize a message instead of pushing an agenda.
• Prioritize people instead of performance or policy.

Question to ask yourself…

• How can I change my communication style to release the best in others?

If you’ve got six more minutes to spare… Tim Steven’s shares his game changer, too.

More than 100 speakers, one-day, 6-minutes each, free…

I’m genuinely looking forward to The Nines Conference in less than two weeks.

Talk about the gift of inspiration, practical advice and encouragement—this year’s theme is GAME CHANGERS. Every speaker had the same task: take no more than 6 minutes to talk about the game changers in your life and ministry. In other words, what were the changes, mindsets or directions that made the biggest difference (personally or corporately)?  

Here’s a preview of a few of the game changers I already know about that will be shared at the event:

• Mark Beeson: Critics in your life? Don’t let anger be your downfall.
• Tim Stevens: How do you reach people who are indifferent to what you have?
• Me: The biggest communications challenge nobody talks about.
• Ben Arment: Divided classes in church: pastors and the business community.
• Eric Bramlett: Why does the church have such an aversion to risk?
• Wayne Cordeiro: Do you a hard time saying "no" because you love people? Stop it.
• Dave Ferguson: Which is the greater risk? Saying yes, or saying no?
• David Foster: If your marriage sucks, your ministry probably sucks, too.
• David Gibbons: How can you dive into the uncomfortable chaos?
• Gayle Haggard: You have to face your defining moments head on.
• Craig Groeschel: Less time leads to a better result.
• Alan Hirsch: See yourself as a missionary. Everything else will take its cue from that.
• Will Mancini: : You have to have people who are BRUTALLY honest with you.
• Dino Rizzo: Grow it small? No one wants to be Thumbelina Community Church.

If you don’t already have this on your calendar, might I suggest you TURN YOUR BRAIN BACK ON! In all seriousness, this is an incredible resource for you and your whole team. It’s not often (if ever) you have free access to some of the world’s best leaders and communicators. Have you seen the full line-up? Have you seen the BUZZ?

MinistryCOM 2006

This just in. Mark your calendar now. MinistryCOM 2006 National Conference will be held September 7-8, 2006 in the Phoenix area. It's the only national event specifically for church communications professionals.

I'll be there. And, I know the guys from Church Marketing Sucks will be there. Mark Batterson will be there. I heard he's bugging a friend from Texas to come. [First name Terry. Last name Storch. No link it's not official.] Terry not coming. Main Street Enterprises will be there. AspireOne will be there. And, my friends Dan from Christ Community, Kirt from Northwoods, Paul from Willow Creek, Jami from GCC, Evan from Fishhook. And, that my friends, is just the tip of the iceberg.