TWLL #28: Learning To Read The Room

read time: 3 minutes

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There are multiple ways you can help your room engage in worship when you lead, but one of the key ways is by learning to read the room.

Over the years this has helped me connect with my room when I’m leading, and has served as a compass as I move through the worship set.

What Does It Mean To ‘Read The Room’?

When I read the room I intentionally open my eyes and scan the room from one side to other.

It really just takes a couple of seconds, but it provides me with information that helps me as I continue to lead worship.

Reading The Room To Measure Engagement

When I read the room, I’m specifically trying to get a pulse on where the room is at in terms of engagement level.  

Are they with me, or have I left them in the dust somewhere along the way?

If I do a quick scan and see that at least a third of the room is showing some visible engagement (ie eyes closed, or singing along, or hands up, etc), I realize the room is fairly engaged.

If it looks like less than a third of the room is engaging with worship, then something might need to change.

Reading The Room Helps Me Know Where To Go Next

Once I have a sense of where the room is at in terms of engagement, I can use that information to help me know where to go next in the set.

For example, if the room engagement level is low, instead of going to that new song the room doesn’t know maybe I’ll go to a classic song they’re familiar with, to help them start singing along again.

Or if the room engagement is decent, then maybe I’ll just roll into the next song in the set list.

If I scan the room and notice they’re super engaged, maybe I’ll linger on the current song a bit longer and not just rush into the next song.  

Conclusion

The next time you lead worship aim to read your room every so often.

It’s a simple and quick thing to do on your end, yet can make such a difference in knowing how to move forward and bring your room with you. 

That’s it for today- see y’all next week!

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Whenever you're ready, there are 2 ways I can help you: 

1. The Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship Course.  If spontaneous worship has been a struggle, you might want to check out Connection-Based Spontaneous Worship.  It's a self-guided, self-paced course that empowers you to lead spontaneous worship with confidence, enables your musicians to flow with you, and helps your room engage.  

2- Join A Zoom Group.  Every 3 months I host small zoom groups- one focused on worship leading and one on songwriting.  Each group meets once a week for an hour on Zoom over a 12-week period, as we walk through the process of learning to leading worship/write songs out of connection with Jesus.  For more details about the next upcoming zoom group, including schedule & cost, email me at [email protected]