Communication Training – DDDiSarro.org

Winter Praise and Prayer

December 5, 2019

Thank you for your prayers for the Worship Arts Conference and Auditions! 76 students came from 29 campuses. 55 auditioned for the student band that will lead worship at the Cru Winter Conference in Indianapolis, while the others attended sessions on the essentials of communication. The students I interacted with gave encouraging feedback, and it was fun to help coach a band from Detroit and watch them gain confidence during our session.

In the next three months, I look forward to equipping students and staff members at other Cru conferences and training events.

Winter Conference: Thousands of students will attend conferences across the country where God will work in their lives in significant ways. I’ll serve on the production team for the Indianapolis conference, which starts right after Christmas.
Emcee Lab: A small group of students and staff members will come to our office in January for a weekend of personalized coaching. I do most of the prep work for this one, and even though it’s small there are still a lot of details to arrange.
Bible Study Methods class: January also brings me a chance to coach a small group of new Cru staff members taking a two-week course on how to study the Bible and teach it to others.
Comm Lab: Our annual communication training event will be in February in Indy.
And finally, right on the heels of Comm Lab, another Worship Arts training weekend, this time for students in Pennsylvania.

As Christmas and a new year approach, your prayers will play a significant role in all of these events. Please ask God to keep me dependent on His power as I follow His lead, and to work in the hearts of everyone who attends training.

I want to thank you for your partnership in ministry. You are helping me equip messengers for God’s mission!

Worship Training This Weekend

October 30, 2019October 30, 2019

Instrumentalists. Vocalists. Sound techs. Weekly meeting program teams.

This weekend, 75 (or more!) college students from Indiana and neighboring states will come to the Worship Arts Conference and Audition here in Indy. The weekend gives them the chance to experience

hands-on clinics for worship band members and leaders;
hands-on experience for instrumentalists and vocalists;
practical input for music directors, program team planners, sound techs, etc.;
opportunity for individual worship band coaching,
challenging content for the heart;
optional auditions for the band that will lead students in worship during the Cru Winter Conference in Indianapolis (December 28-31); and
lots of fun!

Students arrive Friday night and leave Sunday afternoon. The auditions will be held Saturday morning while the 30 or so students who are not auditioning receive additional training. In planning the sessions in this segment, I’ve included part of the Rock Your Meeting video discussion curriculum described in my last newsletter. At other times this weekend, I have the opportunity to teach two communication sessions, offer a workshop on lyrics and visual media, and coach a student band in communicating worship songs.

Please pray

for all of us who are teaching and coaching this weekend to be deeply dependent on God rather than relying on our own strength;
that God would prepare the hearts of the students for what He wants to do in their lives;
that the students in my Saturday morning sessions would share the Rock Your Meeting curriculum with other students who serve on worship teams, weekly meeting program teams, etc.

Thank you for your prayers!

On a personal note…

I recently attended an 80th-anniversary showing of The Wizard of Oz at the Heartland Film Festival, an annual event here in Indianapolis. This was the first time I had ever seen it in a movie theater, and it was amazing on the big screen! The special effects were especially impressive in light of the creativity and effort needed to produce them in 1939. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing one of my favorite classic films as it was meant to be seen!

Making a Tool More Useful

September 25, 2019October 14, 2019

Mid to late August is the start of a new semester for most colleges and an increasing number of high schools, so it also starts a new season for many staff teams in Cru, including office teams like mine.

One of the things we did during our kickoff meeting was to pray, plan and dream about projects we’d like to accomplish before the Christmas break. One project I feel God leading me to focus on is the Rock Your Meeting series of training videos.

Over the past several years I’ve helped in various aspects of production for the 27 Rock Your Meeting training videos, including final editing. They now have a home on the Cru website at www.cru.org/rockyourmeeting. These videos are designed to help students (and staff) grow in skills for planning and presenting weekly meetings on campus.

Although they are useful as is, my involvement with the Worship Arts Weekends (retreats for college students who lead worship at Cru meetings) has given me a desire to make them even more useful. For a session at one of last year’s trainings, I showed the students four of the videos (each is less than 5 minutes long) and asked discussion questions after each one.

The Rock Your Meeting videos worked really well as discussion starters, so I’ve written questions for each of the 27 videos and posted them on a test website (www.rockyourmeeting.org) where they are grouped by topic. (The site’s instruction page is pictured below.) The next step will be to have several Cru campuses try them with their student worship teams, program teams, etc. I’ll then ask for their feedback, which will help me finalize the material.

Please Pray:

For the testing process for the Rock Your Meeting discussion questions:
- connection with campuses willing to test the material
- helpful feedback from the testers
- my sensitivity to God’s guidance throughout
For diligence and wise use of time on this and other projects

Thank you for your prayers!

Instruction page for Rock Your Meeting discussion series.

“Public speaking terrifies me”

May 9, 2019July 12, 2019

Teaching one of my sessions at Comm Lab 2019

“Public speaking terrifies me.” That’s why one Cru staff member decided to attend Comm Lab last month. She admitted her fears on a short survey I sent to the 35 attendees to find out why they came and what they thought of the training. Here are a few encouraging responses:

“…the talks were so well done and applicable, and the drills were incredibly helpful. I loved that the focus was on the message that the Lord has for us to give, and not on how we might look good before an audience. (Though you communicated well that we are called to excellence–not perfection–because of whom we represent!) The coaching time was invaluable!”

(Becky, human resources for Bridges, Cru’s ministry to international students)

“I was an education major in college and took a preaching class in seminary, but the Comm Lab was definitely the most intense communication training I have experienced. I had previously been taught a lot of the things mentioned at the Comm Lab (eye contact, gestures, facial expressions, stage movement, etc.), but no one ever really demonstrated why they are important and held me accountable to improve. Comm Lab did that for me; the coaches stretched me and pushed me. Now I can take that with me as I continue to improve as a communicator.”

(Justin, college pastor)

“…I now have a helpful grid for things to look for and continue to improve on. I definitely improved over the course of a week but what’s most encouraging to me is that I feel equipped to continue growing…”

(Juice, Cru’s campus ministry)

“I have never been so locked in to a conference, soaking everything up like a sponge. I didn’t miss a single session, because it was not only extremely valuable but practical. Practicing skills after each session was crucial for me to learn and grow. The whole conference was so helpful. I will take those skills with me the rest of my life! I believe that it was the single best conference I could have attended for personal growth in communication skills.”

(Danella, college and mobilization director for a church)

Prayer and Praise:

Praise God for how He used Comm Lab
Ask Him to speak through those who were equipped at Comm Lab.

2019 Comm Lab

April 3, 2019

Our annual Comm Lab will be in Raleigh, NC from April 8-11. It’s another opportunity to watch God transform people (this time Cru staff members and local Christian leaders) as they grow in both skill and confidence in public speaking.

Please Pray:

That God will prepare the hearts of those attending Comm Lab. (As of today we have 36 registered; we’d love to have 40.)
That I (and the rest of the Comm Lab team) will rely on the Holy Spirit rather than our own strengths as we teach, coach, and run the event.
For safe travel and good health for all going to Comm Lab and for any of their family members back home. (I’m riding in a van driving there April 6 and returning April 12.)

Thank you for your prayers!

For more info see the Comm Lab website: http://commlab.strategic-initiatives.us.