5 Phrases that increase singing and engagement in worship – Say these!

Hey, worship leader.

Here are five phrases that you can

say to increase singing and engagement

during your church services.

I just started at my new

church, and they barely sing.

Compared to my old church, which

was always roaring like a lion, ready

to go, super engaged, this new church

is very stoic and the frozen chosen.

I’m pulling out all my tricks

to increase engagement.

A huge part of that is just

building really good worship sets,

which I’ll make another video for.

But today, I want to talk about

five phrases that I’m saying

on a regular basis to bring about

more engagement from this new church.

I’ll tell you what the phrases are

and when you should use those phrases.

The fifth phrase is actually

something that you don’t say,

so we’ll get to that at the end.

But the first phrase is,

You guys sound beautiful.

I love to encourage the church

at the end of the singing time when

I pray and say, In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We clap.

I say, Amen.

You guys sound beautiful today.

Thank you for singing with us.

Thank you for lifting

your voices to the Lord.

It was so beautiful to hear you sing.

By acknowledging them and by

calling something and speaking value

into them, they’re going to

want to give you more of that next time.

When you say they sound beautiful,

when someone feels beautiful,

they’re going to do more of

that thing that has been encouraged.

I love to say, You guys sound beautiful.

I would encourage you to use it.

Sometimes, if I hear them sing

really loudly in a chorus, like we’re

singing a down chorus, and I really

hear their voices, I’ll actually just

say, Beautiful, like a shortened version

of, You guys sound beautiful.

I’ll just say beautiful

when I hear their voices, and that

encourages them to sing it out more.

Try that phrase, You guys

sound beautiful or beautiful, as

the shortened version right in the middle

of a chorus when you hear their voices.

One addition to this is, sometimes

I’ll say at the end of the singing time,

You guys really spurred me on in worship.

Seeing you guys worship really

spurred me and the rest of the band on.

You guys really led us in worship.

So thank you for singing

so passionately to the Lord.

All right, second phrase,

sing this with me.

So many worship leaders just get up

and start singing on the microphone.

It’s like, I want the church

to know that I want to sing with me.

I usually say this before verse one.

So we’re starting a new song, the intro

is finishing, and I say, sing this

with me, and then I start singing.

Because now it doesn’t

feel like a performance,

but it’s a collective experience.

We’re doing it together.

You’re asking them to sing it with you.

And guess what?

When you ask them to sing

it with you, they will.

Start to use that phrase, sing it

with me at least one time per set,

usually two, sometimes even three times

per set, I’ll do it.

There are sometimes when an intro,

you don’t want to use it

because you just want it to really

flow and be more reflective.

But I would say by and large,

if you’re looking for more participation,

use the phrase, sing it with me

before the verse one of every song.

All right, the third phrase

is, let the church of God sing.

This is more of an exhortation,

and I like to use it in punchy choruses

before a big, epic course.

As we’re moving into the bars and

the beats leading up into that chorus,

I’ll say, Let the church of God

sing, boom, and then we’re singing.

I love that phrase.

If you’ve never tried it, it really

gets people amped up Yes, we’re

the church, and we’re going to sing.

We’re going to take a stand,

and we’re going to mean these lyrics.

Let the church of God

sing is your third phrase.

Your fourth phrase is, You sing it.

I love to make the church sing and

actually lead portions of familiar songs.

So anytime you’re singing a song

that the church knows really well

and that is easy to sing, I actually

ask the church, You sing it.

So for 10,000 reasons, verse 2,

we’ve already done the acoustic verse,

we’ve already done the first

chorus, the band is in laying

a really solid foundation for them

so they don’t feel naked and exposed.

It’s a pretty familiar song.

So at that point in the song,

I’ll say, You sing it, and I’ll start

the first line of the lyrics,

and then I’ll just back off my mic

and I’ll sing it with them.

I’ll make sure that I’m opening my mouth

wide and they can see that I’m singing,

but I’ve stepped back from the mic enough

to where maybe my voice is just barely

audible, but I’m not really

the loudest voice in the room anymore.

Now, the congregation’s voice is lifting

up and leading that section of the song.

Again, if it’s familiar

and they know it, let them sing it

and lead that portion of the song.

That’s really going to encourage them

that they are a part

of this thing that we’re doing.

It works great on Amazing Grace verse 2

and Any other familiar song

that’s simple and has a simple metre

and singability, let them lead

a whole section of the song.

Then you can just step up to your mic

to re-infuse that boldness,

and then step back, and then

step forward for a word, and then back,

and let them lead read the song.

You sing it is the fourth phrase.

The fifth phrase is the juke.

It’s actually not something

that you say or sing.

It’s something that you don’t sing.

I want to encourage you to try this.

Don’t sing the punchiest word

in a phrase, especially in a chorus.

You’re singing really strong,

and it’s a punchy chorus,

and they’re singing it out.

What you want to do is write

at that biggest punchiest word,

you want to not sing it.

You want to pull back.

You want to let their voice

all of a sudden pop out in the mix.

They’re It’s like, whoa,

it almost surprises them.

An example would be the song At the Cross,

where it’s like, At the cross,

at the cross, I surrender my life.

I’m in, I’m in.

It’s I’m in all of you.

I’m I’m in, awe of you.

You sing, I’m in, but then you don’t

sing, awe of you, but they do,

and they were expecting you to drop out.

So all of a sudden,

their voice pops out loudest,

and they’re like, Whoa, we did that?

That was us?

Wow, we’ve got some power.

We’ve got some beef.

We’re actually contributing here.

And when they surprise themselves

by being the loudest element in the mix,

they’ll feel empowered to sing out more

for the rest of your set and for the rest

of your future sets as well.

Now, there are a lot more tricks

that you can use to increase singing

in your church, and I’m going

to tell you about two resources.

One of them is free and one

of them costs a dollar.

The free resource is right

underneath this video or in the show

notes, if you’re listening to audio only.

I have an older podcast episode

called Utilising Vocal Cues

to Help Your Church Sing.

Vocal cues the things that you sing or say

that encourage your congregation

to participate.

So check that free

training out linked below.

Or for just $1, you can check out

my increasing congregation and engagement

course where I teach you the 15 factors

that affect church participation in

worship and how to improve each factor.

And you can try that course

plus nine other courses in the academy,

along with our live monthly trainings

and our supportive community for just $1

by going to worshipministrytraining.

Com.

So I hope to see you in the academy.

Otherwise, check out that vocal cues video

that I told you about, or I see you

in whatever YouTube is recommending next.

God bless you and see

you in the next video.