Solid Platform Leadership

A huge part of what we do is on the stage, so we should do it well.

Your job is not to sing songs — it’s to lead the room. Your primary calling isn’t to execute songs with excellence; it’s to facilitate an encounter with the living God. We’re leaders first and musicians second. If you’re the only one singing, you’re failing — your job is to get the room to sing.

Action items

Your presence on the platform

• Be warm, welcoming, genuine — even use humor. It’s church, not a concert; you’re family, not a performer.
• Be authentic (be yourself — God made you who you are) and confident (if you look uncomfortable, the church will be too). Do offstage what you need to be comfortable onstage — practice your guitar, warm up your voice.
• Lead by example physically: raise your hands, sing, smile. Open your eyes and look at the congregation — especially when you talk to them.

Invite participation

• Remind people why they came — to worship the Lord, not to watch the stage. Teach why and how we worship.
• Use vocal cues, especially at song splits (going to a bridge vs. repeating a chorus), so people don’t sing the wrong thing.
• Don’t impress them — invite them. Give a clear, solid roadmap they can sing on top of instead of showing off runs.
• Create space for the congregation’s voice: keep the room from being too loud for them to hear themselves, build down-choruses and acoustic moments, back off the mic and let them sing. Afterward, encourage them — “it was beautiful to hear your voices” — because what gets praised gets repeated.