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Grab the Spotlight
Attracting Attention to Special Studies
by David Cassady
You’ve created a terrific learning opportunity, but how do you create excitement and motivate people to attend? With today’s busy lives and schedules, people are selective about where they give their time and attention. At the same time, they will make time for events that appear worthwhile. Following a few simple steps can dramatically increase the energy and attendance for your events.
Make it an "event"
Many churches offer a selection of special studies on Sunday or Wednesday nights, and the crowds can seem tough to attract. Helping the church to see these studies as "events" can dramatically increase their appeal.
First, let’s take a look at the largest problem with the way special studies are viewed by church members — they feel like "school." Good or bad, right or wrong, the truth is that many people did not have positive experiences in school. Memories of boring lectures, seemingly irrelevant subjects, and feelings of inferiority around facts (what if I am called upon to answer a question?) can prevent some people from seeing a church’s special study as attractive.
Promoting a special study or series of studies means, at least, appearing to be different than school.
Take a moment and try to recall the church events that you remember from previous years. It may be a children’s program, a musical-drama performed by the youth, a Vacation Bible School launch party, or the opportunity to hear a special guest leader. Chances are, each of these events were treated like a "special event" by the church, and that status translated into additional exposure and a larger attendance.
Special events tend to have a few things in common. They tend to involve fun, fellowship, and food. They also are surrounded by a sense of anticipation and high expectations. If we help people perceive our special studies as "events," attendance will increase.
Let’s look at a few concrete ideas to make your promotion efforts more effective.
Provide food and fellowship
It’s no secret that most congregations enjoy food and fellowship. If you are launching a new series of special Sunday night studies for the fall, provide a "launch" fellowship. At the fellowship, provide a light supper, and give each of your teachers a chance to do a brief commercial for their study. Have sign-up sheets available for people to use in choosing a study. Provide brochures or flyers describing the options offered. If one or more of the study options have books or other resources involved, people can sign up for these materials, which can be purchased the following week. Throughout the fellowship, the commercials, and the brochures, use a light-hearted spirit and plenty of humor. The more fun-filled the event, the less your congregation will perceive the studies as school-like.
Of course, when the special studies begin, you may also wish to provide refreshments for each session.
Title with flair
With a special study or learning event, the title is important. An exciting, relevant study should have a title that fits it. Even book studies can often benefit from a more exciting title than the book offers.
For example, which study title sounds more appealing?
• Strengthening Prayer or Talking with God: Four weeks to a Better Prayer Life
or
• A Study in Colossians or Drowning in Shallow Water: Hope for Today from Colossians
or
• Improve Your Decision-making Skills or It’s Your Choice: Decision-Making for Tough Times
To discover the best title, it pays to do your research. Read the book or resources to be used, and look for the angle that is most appealing. What aspect of the study seems most appealing? What problems might it solve? What skills or helps does it offer to learners?
Point to the pay-off
When promoting a special study, it’s easy only to focus on the content of the study. However, most adults want to know the "pay-off." "What will I get from this study?" They want to know that the study will give them new tools for coping, living, or behaving.
Magazine publishers are pros at giving articles interesting titles. Many begin with "How to?" or "5 Ways to? ." They understand that readers want a benefit from reading the articles inside.
For example, notice the following two ways of describing a special study on prayer:
Strengthening Prayer
Strengthening Prayer will look at various styles of prayer, observe several famous prayers, and provide suggestions about the parts of a good prayer. Teacher: Jane Doe, Sundays, 6:30-7:30 in Room 3A.
Talking with God: Four Weeks to a Better Prayer Life
How do you feel about your prayers? Do you pray as often as you would like? Join us for "Talking with God" and discover insights and approaches to prayer that you can use right away. Refreshments provided. Leader: Jane Doe. Sundays in March, 6:30-7:30 in Room 3A
Both studies could be identical in content, but these promotional blurbs take different approaches to building interest. The second sample focuses on the benefits to the persons attending, while the first looks at the content. Which sounds more practical? Which sounds more interesting?
Promote Everywhere
These days, adults are hit with messages in a steady barrage. Getting through the buzz means your event must be promoted often and a variety of ways. Many of the standard tools work great when used together.
If promotion for a special learning event can begin a month before the first session, there’s time for multiple brief announcements in your church newsletter, multiple announcements in the appropriate Sunday school classes, multiple posters placed strategically around the church, verbal announcements on Wednesday evenings and Sundays, information on your church’s website, and through brochures and flyers mailed directly to homes. When people see the announcements regularly, they will assume that the event is a "big deal" and they will usually place a higher value upon it.
Of course, use the same light-hearted attitude, and have as much fun with the promotion of events as you hope the learners will have within the sessions.
You Can Do It
With a little planning, special learning events can grow in significance within your church, and provide the opportunity for learning that will likely not occur elsewhere. In a perfect world, people would simply attend. But in the real world, it’s worth the effort to promote learning events with flair. Promoting learning as fun is a good thing, because learning is fun.
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