In our A Dangerous Dryness post, we spoke of the need use testimonies to show people’s experiences with God. There might be nothing worse than a poorly executed testimony. (Okay, a paper cut, genocide, etc. maybe a few things). How do you help someone tell the story of God’s activity in their life well? A few tips that we’ve learned.

1. Make no promises. Just tell them you want to capture their story to have in the vault. Don’t say, “We want you to tell your story on Sept. 15,” or you’ve painted yourself into a corner by setting their expectations. If the whole thing isn’t the quality you want, there are several options you have which we’ll explain below.

2. Script. We have learned the hard way. Brent says, “No initial script, no testimony.” One, it shows the person believes in telling their story enough to take the effort to write it out. Two, it gives you a head start on the message of their testimony and allows you to construct questions. I have them write out their story and email it to me. This is a rough exercise for them more than us. It helps them formulate their story and allows us to work with them.

3. Pre-interview. Most people are not writers or story tellers. You need to help them compose their story. We do this by having them come have a very casual conversation with us about their story. We capture audio with an el cheapo portable mp3 recorder that we got at Radio Shack. I have them tell the story then I ask them questions like a journalist would to help fill in the details in our minds as we get ready to produce.

4. Assessment. Some people have a great story but are horribly dry live or on tape. By watching them tell their story, we listen to inflection, etc. to see if this can be a “straight story” or the degree we will need to creatively assist them either to help their testimony take shape or to help their lack of delivery skills.

5. Outlets. We always have a written outlet. Because our church has a blog that frequently posts T-stories, we can post up a testimony that either doesn’t fit the context of our current series, cannot get on the media docket, or just comes across better in written form. We can also youtube T-stories up on the blog.

6. Creative Brainstorming. Brent, Cristian and I sit down with everything we know and ask how we best tell the story. Here are some options (1) live on stage (2) as an interview on stage (3) as a straight into the camera video–this is one of the most difficult to attempt (4) as a just off the camera interview where the interviewer sits under the lens or (5) as a journalist/reporter video where someone else tells the story ala the reporter and the subject gives sound bytes. We then talk through the look and style. How much B roll will we need and what is the content of the B roll?

6. Shooting (video format). If it is a video, make sure you a ready to go at their arrival with all lighting, audio, etc. checked. If time permits, you should scout out on location spots to make sure traffic noise, site lines, and angles are good. Make sure you instruct the subject on what to wear/what looks good on video (we suggest solid shirts with no fine stripes). Book more time with them than you think you’ll need just in case, thus under promising and over delivering. It is nice to tell them, “Wow, we are done early. You did great.” Cristian stresses the importance of good audio. Use good quality wireless mics. Have a camera person who worries about good shots and clean audio. You also need a separate producer who is keeping track of story continuity and testimony content details.

7. Edit well (video format). Hire a great Chilean videographer (but not ours). Sift through mutliples takes of the same scene if you have them and pick the most compelling. Watch news stories and other TV stories to see new trends and techniques they use for telling the story.

8. Screen it (video format). Allow the person who is either leading up to, using, or picking up from the video in the worship service to see it early in the week so they know what they will say and how they will utilize the piece. Also, allow the subject to watch the video to (1) make sure it is accurate and truthful and (2) to get them emotionally ready to see it on the big screen particularly if it is a sensitive topic.

9. Live testimonies. This is all about getting them to relax and be natural. Make sure you instruct them in what to wear. (Ex., If on stools, ladies should wear pants. If you Imag, what looks good on camera and what doesn’t). Have them do a mock run or interview on stage with lights set how they will be and the PA on with them mic’d so they get accustomed to it. If you have multiple services and it is interview format, vary the questions slightly or throw a different question in subsequent services so you don’t spend time in service #2 or 3+ trying to “manufacture a moment” that happened in service #1.

And now for your viewing enjoyment…a couple of mini-clips of testimonies we’ve done.