I blogged last week about my first experience on arrival in the United States of America. This week I want to write about another lesson that I learnt at Cultivate11.
This one is a big Cultivate11 lesson.
Authentic beats professional.
Well with one catch.
I've noticed for about the last three or so years young adults really want the church to communicate in an "authentic way". In communication land this means they want the communication to feel honest; not overly produced (feeling slick); feel unscripted or unstructured (even if it was scripted); normal looking not nose job, shiny white teeth and stunningly good looking. Bottom line real, not fake.
But here is the catch. There is still an expectation that the communication's production value doesn't feel as though it was done by amateurs. The sound quality needs to be good (not perfect), the vision shouldn't be too shaky (a little bit is OK).
Bottom line is that poorly executed communication is still looked down upon. In fact it will be a barrier for many young adults to move towards the goal of your communication.
One great example of the contrasting communication styles that I experienced was at HillsongOneDay in Melbourne yesterday. Most of the conference had a BIG feeling to it. It was in a stadium after-all. But then in a remarkable contrast to the BIG feel Joel A'Bell preached about 'The Scarlet Thread'. The BIG stage became small through selective use of lighting. Joel's speaking style was informal and he sat on a rather plain chair. The video part of the communication was brilliant and earthy in feel.
What examples of 'authentic' communication have you seen?
