Projecting lyrics may not always be the most exhilarating part of Church Media, but there’s no doubt that it provides a valuable service for those in the congregation. It’s particularly important for newcomers who are less likely to know the songs in your worship team’s repertoire. Because of this, it’s critical that we do our best to design our slides to be both functional and attractive. (Even if people don’t truly read the lyrics you’re displaying, they’re still likely to be distracted if your slides look all jacked up!)
As I’ve visited different churches and studied their media practices, I’ve noticed that it often isn’t huge mistakes that keep lyric slides from looking their best. Instead, it’s the little things that subtly stand out. (Sounds kind of like a small foxes spoil the vine sermon to me!) So, for the next several weeks, we’ll be discussing some quick tips that are super easy to implement, but will make a big difference in your Sunday morning media.
• Stick To 2-4 Lines Per Slide
The quickest way to add confusion and distraction to your lyric slides is by having too many lines on the screen. It may be the easiest route for you because it requires less flipping through slides, but this lazy way out is not the way to go. Fill each slide with 2-4 lines max so that it’s easy for new singers to jump in at any time without having to do a word search on your screen. (This also makes it easier for people to close their eyes in prayer/worship and pick right back up when they open their eyes again.)
• Bully-free Slides
Some people describe this problem as “orphans and widows,” but I’ve always instructed my media volunteers to avoid having bullies on your slides. Simply put, don’t create small lines of text surrounded by large “bully” lines. While still keeping with the general flow of how the song is sung, arrange your slides to have fairly equal line lengths.
• No Commas or Periods At The End of Lines
This is day one stuff, folks! These are lyrics—not sentences that require absolute, perfect punctuation. For a much cleaner look, ditch the commas and periods on the end of lines. The line-break is more than enough for your congregation to recognize that there is a separation.
Are you guilty of these mistakes? What are some more tips for better lyric slides? Be sure to check back with us next week for more tips!
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I love this!! Thanks for sharing!
Great post :) Thanks for the tips!!
When putting lyrics on slides I like to ensure that the lines flow with the song and where people will take a breath, where possible!
e.g. you could change the first slide set to read:
In death and in life I’m confident
And covered by the power
Of Your great love
A couple of questions:
When you have to use a certain point size to ensure that people at the back can read the words, this affects how much text you can fit on a line. Do we lose lines to accomodate this? Or is it OK to go across the whole screen?
If your screens are low down is it OK to keep the words at the top, again for the people at the back to see them over everyone in front?
Hey there, David! I definitely agree about going with the flow of how your congregation sings the lyrics. It’s interesting because I tried to read your example as if I was singing the song the way that we normally do and it seemed very unnatural for me. I guess that just goes to show that you can sing songs differently in varying churches!
In regards to the question about text sizing—I’ve spent a fair amount of time on both accommodating the eyesight of elderly and designing slides how I’d prefer them. The “right” answer is to make your text comfortable for everyone, but I feel that how your slides look is just as important. Everyone can see ugly! I would try putting less text on each slide. That way, you can still look good while providing lyrics for the back row.
And, yes, it’s definitely okay to adjust your text position based on your screen position. Just remember to keep your margins consistent across all of your songs. This will make it seem that you actually meant to do this. It’s also good to do this with backgrounds with images at the bottom like this – http://centerlinenewmedia.com/products/view/2130
I hope that helps!
Great Help – Thanks. Can’t wait for the rest of the hints!