Reading the room may be a concept we don’t think of with worship ministry. We might equate it with an entertainer, a politician, or a stage actor.
But it’s an essential skill for the worship leader.
A quick definition of “reading the room” is to be aware of the nonverbal cues, attitudes and mood of a group of people, and to adjust your behavior accordingly.
For preachers and worship leaders alike, this doesn’t mean that we only give people what they want, but that we seek to help make connections. We’re serving in this role for the purpose of helping each person encounter Jesus and respond. If they seem disengaged, we do all we can to bring them in.
We trust in God’s holy spirit to lead and connect. We do our best to prepare and be creative, but there are aspects to “reading the room” when leading.
Here are a few thoughts …
Give An Invitation and Some Encouragement
Reading the room will help leaders figure out what to say. It might be that the people need some encouragement to lift their voices and sing, outwardly worship, and praise the Lord. Other times, the energy and excitement are evident, and the people need confirmation and celebration—“you’re doing great! Let’s lift the name of the Lord!”
Mostly Keep Eyes Open
Now, some people could argue here – that you should worship the way that works for you and the Lord. That’s true for everyone except possibly the leader. You are worshiping, too, but you’re also called, in a bit of a sacrifice, to lead people and help them worship. Most people gifted in this are the ones who feel a sense of fulfillment and worship just being in that space doing it. One thing about this is the closing of eyes during worship leading; some people do the whole song….and I just think that makes it hard to read the room, literally. It’s good here and there; we don’t want to create a formula or anything, and we don’t want to make odd eye contact, but we want to have our eyes open for engagement and beyond for example, “You’re singing, church, and it’s fantastic, praise the Lord!”
We’re Not People Pleasing
Another possible sensitive topic for worship leaders is people-pleasing. Many people deal with it, especially artists who see the effectiveness of their paintings, songs, or other work through the appreciation of others and their responses.
Like most gifts, there is a good side and a downside. Artists’ people-please tendency makes them great at reading the room and helping connections happen. The downside is that we can seek to make artificial connections and worry when there isn’t a sense of a big connection.
So, we can’t let reading the room be our only indication of success in worship ministry leadership. We have to know that and trust that it’s God’s spirit at work, that God moves in people’s hearts. We’re there as a doorkeeper, a steward, and an apostle to call, lead, and direct as much as we can… and we seek to please God. We could probably have lots of conversations about this one…
Possibly Changing Direction
It’s hard in our modern digital world to do much changing on the fly. You can’t usually just pull out a totally different song. But you can say something differently, sing a song a little longer or shorter, louder or softer or make some other minor adjustments to help people engage. You can also think of changes for next week as well. After determining the attitude of the people based on a certain song set, you might make it a different flow for next week!
Connect Before And After The Service
Reading the room really means knowing the people and determining where they are today. As we meet with people before worship, we get a sense of where people are… we know them more and more. After service accomplishes the same thing: cumulative connections that build the church. Make sure you plan things out so you can be with the church before and after—it’s important.
Grow Your Heart for People In Your Church
There’s a place in scripture where it says Jesus had compassion on the crowd. He saw them and realized they were confused and needed a shepherd. This all came after he looked at them. This is part of reading the room… eyeball to eyeball, we can get a glimpse of what is needed…