Kay Helm 0:00
So if I said I was going to hold an event, and we're gonna do it over zoom, and you're gonna stick with me for three full days, would you be excited? Or would you roll your eyes? Maybe your reaction would have something to do with your experience. What kinds of zoom meetings have you been a part of, for these last? Oh, I don't know, three years. But, you know, it's made a lot of things possible. And so I attended this event a few weeks ago, and I've been chewing on some of the notes. And I just thought I'd share some takeaways, that you don't have to be doing an event, a live event or a virtual event, in order to put these lessons into practice for your communications. So I hope you'll stick with me for episode 68 of the Life and Mission Podcast. These are my three top takeaways from the virtual event for virtual events.
I'm Kay Helm, and this is the Life and Mission Podcast Episode 68, three takeaways for communicators from TV four. now, what is tve4? this is, this is an event that I attended, I try to attend something every year that's outside of but adjacent to my field. And it helps me see things with fresh eyes, okay, and this is not quite outside of my field, but I don't plan an event anytime soon. So I'm looking, when I go to an event like this, I look for new possibilities. I'm looking for new solutions to old problems, I'm looking for a break from routine that that helps with creativity. And so I attended the virtual event for virtual events, they call it TVE for short. Thank God. TVE was three full days on Zoom. I know you're rolling your eyes right now. But it was so well done. So engaging, they had plenty of breaks community, all the stuff. But even more, here's what happened. TVE shows what's possible with a virtual event.
We've been doing the zoom thing for a while. We're like, oh, yeah, another webinar? Oh, yeah, another virtual event. Okay, if that's what you're thinking, hang on, because you can take some things from TV here and apply them in other areas.
And this is what I love to do. When I attend an event. I do kind of take in a lot of information. And then I process it and I say, what what will that do for my audience? What will that do for my people? What can it do for you know, the the ministries and the nonprofits that I'm involved with, personally? How can we apply what I'm learning here? And how can I share it with people with you, and help you and you do not have to spend three days at an event, although I will say if you are planning a virtual event, these guys are awesome, and really wonderful, knowledgeable and fun to learn from. So check it out. They do it. They do these events all the time. So this TVE was packed with practical information, generous q&a days, and about everything that you could dream of, for successful events. And no, I'm not getting paid to say any of this. I'm not an affiliate or affiliated with them in any way. No kickbacks, no anything. So even though I don't have a live event on my calendar anytime soon, at least not as I record this episode, right? I took notes, and I'm looking for lessons that can be applied by communicators like us in any setting.
So here are my three biggest takeaways from TVE4 that you can apply today.
The first one is write in sand, not cement. I've loved this. Now I've heard people say experiment and iterate. Okay, that's the same thing. But experiment and iterate.
Kay Helm 4:20
You know, I'm a more visible visual person. Experiment. I'm thinking and go to a lab. You got your white lab coat on you're doing your experiment. It's an iterate sounds like work, okay? Just but write in sand. Hey, who doesn't want to go do that right? We can sand is good. Sand means beaches, but like you're getting a picture with this right in sand, not cement, okay? If you ever put your your handprint in cement, you stick your hand in there and then it's there forever. It's there. It's not going to change unless that subnet breaks and you don't want to have to break things in order to change things in your ministry and so on.
Write in sand, not cement. This is one that I mess up all the time, I'll research I'll plan, I'll strategize. And instead of just getting out there and trying things out, so when I started mission writers earlier this year, I just did this thing to serve my people, I jumped in to fill a need, and we are figuring this thing out as we go. And you know what? It's been successful. Is it perfect? No, not at all. It's not perfect. But I have learned so much about what my people need, right? The research, research is good. But really getting in there and doing the work with people this is, this is how you learn how you can serve them, get into the mix, have those fun, awkward conversations, as you figure things out, go on the journey with your people and figure it out together. So write in sand, not submit.
The next thing speaking about your people, macro, clear, micro, easy. Macro, clear, micro easy. What does that mean? Well, this is Get clear on the big things. And the little things take care of themselves is another way to say this macro clear micro easy, okay, get clear on the big things. And when we're talking about marketing, and we're talking about communication, you know, the first question your marketing person is going to ask you is who are we talking to, right. And so these are not the only thing that you need to get get clear on. But it's one of the really big things. And if we're not really laser focused on who it is that we're talking to, we kind of get scattered, we get, we take a lot of time and energy that we just spend kind of throwing things out there and seeing if they stick but if you're clear, you know, on your people who are your people? And this is just one example, Who are you people? If I'm absolutely clear on my audience, who am I talking to? It's much easier to talk to them, it's much easier to say, Oh, this is the thing that I need to share, right? So take the time upfront. To get absolutely clear on what problem you solve. Who are you serving? How are you making a difference for them at once you're clear on that, all the other things will begin to fall in place.
So what we tend to do is we latch on to the latest marketing trends, the latest tactic, how many times a day do I need to post on whatever we look around, and we see what are the other people in our space doing what are the trends and the tactics, but those things change. They change what works today may not work tomorrow. So chasing random tactics, never a good plan. And it does not serve your audience. So ultimately, serving your audience is what it's all about. So you make sure that you have that part down, you'll find it easier than to evaluate the tactics that you need and say, which ones do I need? Which ones can I ignore, and take some of that time back? make life easier? serve your clients better? Yes, please, more of that, right.
So the third thing is show what's possible. Everything you do shows the people you serve what is possible. When we break out and we try new things, we are helping other people dream. Sometimes it seems like nobody's paying attention. Like who is even listening to this, who is even watching this, who is even reading this right? You send those things out and you get like the crickets, okay, and you don't know but people are out there people are there, they're taking it in. Sometimes you don't hear from people because they're pondering it. So you don't know you don't even know sometimes who you are influencing.
Kay Helm 9:10
I remember I spoke one time at our church and I wasn't even like the speaker. It was just something that the Lord had laid on my heart. And through a really cool series of events that morning, I ended up sharing it with some of the leadership of the church and and they said Alright, we're gonna, we're gonna call you up and have you share that with the congregation. And so I just, I just shared it and I didn't even know where it fit in with kind of what was happening at the time. And you know, two weeks later, I was I was out and about, and somebody that I didn't know who had been in the audience that day comes up to me and like, grabs me by the shoulders and just like shakes me says, I got it. I got it. I can know how to you know what, what do you mean? What do you like? What do you got, you know, Oh, Is it contagious? I just have no context. I have no idea what she's doing. She's bribing me, and she's checking me saying, I got it. But she's happy. She's not angry. So that's good. somebody grabs you, it's good if they're happy, not angry.
She's saying, I got it, I got it. And I'd make eye contact. And I said, got, got what? What is it? And she said, it was something about the majesty of God. And she says, she said, I got it. She said, I was driving to work. And, and I just was, was thinking about what you said, and it's like, it hit me. And just the truth of it, just, it just, it just got into my, my soul, and, and I had to pull off to the side of the road and just weep. Wow. Wow. Now, if nobody else got anything from that, I'm so glad that I was just obedient to share that. And I'm so glad that my church was obedient to the Lord to let that happen. And that because it, it changed something in this woman. And it was good. And God was doing something none of us were aware of. Right? That but and you got to figure if one person comes back like that, and talks to you that probably more people had experiences that were positive with that. And so don't be discouraged when you don't when you don't hear but I mean, that's not exactly what this point is about. I mean, when I say, you know, show what's possible, but I want to, I just want to encourage you, I guess I am trying to show you what's possible, because I remember talking about this podcast with my podcast coach, and I said, Well, you know, that many people listening, and she's like, carry on, Alana goes, Kay, what are you talking about, she says, You have like a small church there, you know, like, you have those of your people like you'd never think that that small, never think that you're not having an impact. And I'm going to tell you the same thing about your organization, about your small email list about whatever it is that you think is not big enough.
I'm telling you, when you break out and try new things, you are helping other people dream, when you try and fail, you are letting your people know that that's just part of the process. But also, when you hedge and you keep things safe. You not only keep your own dream small, but you also clip the wings of the people that you're supposed to be serving. And as a leader, you cannot afford to play small, it's not good for you. It's not good for the people that you serve.
And that's why I love this point, this, this thing of like I said, I went to this event, knowing I don't have a big event. I don't I'm not Tony Robbins. I'm not you know, some big pastor a big church, I'm not some big thing with a big platform. So I still have people I can help. I hope that that I'm helping you, I pray that this is helping you in some way. And this is why I love to learn, I love to learn from the best. Alright, so maybe I'm not the biggest, but I'm gonna learn from the best. I'm gonna bring you the best. I'm gonna I'm gonna go shake, go out there and get things, bring them back to you. What's working? What's not?
Kay Helm 13:31
What are your best practices? How can I apply this to what I'm doing? And what ideas might this part in me and people around me? So here's my challenge to you. Can you stretch a little bit? Is there an event a conference? Is there a sermon that touched you recently a personal experience or something that you can share with your audience? That just gives them a little nudge? Or gives them inspiration? Or shows them a possibility, right is there's something you can step out in, there's something you can take a chance with, that serves as an example for your people. It can be for your donors, it can be for your people that you're doing business with it can be for your constituents, the beneficiaries of your ministries can be anybody, your children, show them what's possible. Don't be like, well, we can't do that.
Because this is an easy way like like if you go to a conference or you go to something and you get a few days away, or you have an epiphany, you just get great if you if you've said it the email, desk, you know, and you're like I need to write to my people, but I don't know what to say what did you learn? What do you read? What's one tip what's you know, a list of three like I did today.
This is a really easy way to serve your people with valuable information. And you help yourself too because it also reinforces what you've learned, right? This did me good to share this today. It helped me out. I hope it helps you that it helped me. And thanks for being here.
If you enjoyed it, please do tell a friend share the episode with somebody you think will get something helpful from it. Yeah, you could do a post you know three things I learned today from the life and mission podcast, right?
This is the life and mission podcast. Find your voice. Tell your story. Change the world.
