Weekly Church PowerPoint Advice

[Aperture]

Hello all,

I'm working to redesign a PowerPoint presentation that is played at my church's services. The presentation has all of the hymns, prayers, etc. There is a lot of content.

Currently, the PPT is a big mashup of gradient backgrounds, some photos, and some default themes. I'm trying to make it more professional and am trying to standardize the layout, fonts, and overall flow (especially to match the church's new branding).

I'm having some trouble getting to the point that it is all of the things mentioned above without being boring. I know this question is sort of vague, but I'm looking for any advice or solutions to similar problems that you might have experienced.

Thanks

 

[notjustjay]

Set up a PowerPoint master with the color scheme, logo, etc. for your desired "look". Standardize on fonts for certain things. For example when I put together a song set I always use, say, 18-point Tahoma, centered, black with a grey drop-shadow effect. Then go through your slides and apply the appropriate masters.

Have you considered other options for presentation software? I was just at a weekend retreat where I was the on-call tech guy, and they were using a program called ProPresenter 3. I'd never seen it before, but it was pretty amazing. I'm definitely going to look into using that (or something like it) instead of PowerPoint.

 

[Daringescape]

Seriously, check into other presentation options - there are quite a few out there for Mac as well as Windows. We use one called worship assistant. One of the best ones I have seen is called MediaShout - it supports all kinds of graphics, and several types of video as well.

You will save yourself a whole bunch of headache by not using powerpoint.

 

[Simplesimon101]

we use media shout at our church too... it's a great idea! everything is sorted and it takes a few minutes to sort out each meeting.

as for theme... personally I would keep it as simple as possible.
for a few reasons...

• one it always looks alot better and more professional
• it's easier to read
• it's more 'respectful' (for want of a better word)
• the more extras you put in it the more distracting the slide will be to the content of the slide... which surely is the point of the slide (to display important content.)

I really like white text on a black background as it's very clear to read and looks very sharp on a projector. you could use helvetica because it's very easy to read too. I did a presentation at my church recently using this theme (believe me it was very simple) and people commented afterwards how much they liked the simplicity of the slides (which to be honest was kinda funny... I was hoping they'd like the content of the presentation! ) but my feeling is 'exciting' slides with pictures, logos and funky transitions just distract people... and no one wants to that...

I hope that helps a bit?

Thanks

 

[Consultant]

KeyNote?

There is also some specific software for church that makes it easy to have music on cue.

 

[andrew050703]

We used to use Powerpoint until recently, but it was a pain to have all the songs ready & didn't really facilitate singing an unplanned song.

Instead, we got Words of Worship (a PC app) which has a quick search database so you can just type in a line from a song and its there. Verses are easy to change; just press 1, 2, 3, b (bridge), c (chorus) etc to advance or go back. It also sorts out the copyright notice for you & comes with a digital bible to put verses onscreen.

I've tried ProPresenter which seems a lot better, but as it was Mac only, the church went for WoW.

We use yellow words on a darkish blue gradient background - apparently it's better for peeps with bad eyesight, but WoW can also put movies or pics behind should that be required

 

[Flynnstone]

WE used to use PowerPoint at our church.
We now use (mostly) MediaShout (PC).
Powerpoint was such a pain. I always had a hard time figuring were I was.

 

[jonnysods]

Hi guys, we have been through a lot of the different programs. It all started with 150 slide powerpoint presentations.

Then we got EZ Worship - a million billion crashes and nightmarish issues.

I convinced the church to get Macs and move to Pro Presenter - best thing we ever did. Great for mixing in video backgrounds etc.

Honestly, it is an up front cost, but you will find it's amazing, for speed, performance and visuals.

 

[jonnysods]

Just checking back in - have you guys made any decisions?