How to Structure Your Digital Evangelism Presentation For Conversion

A well structured Digital Evangelism Presentation is the key to a successful online evangelism and outreach campaign.

Even though digital presentations have been used by marketers for years, they are fairly new to the church. In fact, not many churches have incorporated digital evangelism into their daily evangelism campaigns.

If you are one of those churches looking for new innovative and effective ways to reach, connect and grow your membership both off and online, then this article is for you.

By the end of this article, you will know exactly how to structure a digital evangelism presentation that will keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.

What is a Digital Evangelism Presentation?

A digital evangelism presentation is any presentation that is delivered online. These presentations may include live streams through Facebook, Youtube, webinars or any other video conferencing platform.

Digital Evangelist can use digital presentations to deliver online Bible studies, online crusades, workshops, lay worker training and so on and so forth.

Who is a Digital Evangelist?

The marketing world has expanded the meaning of a digital evangelist to show the level of expertise in a particular field. For example:

• Product Evangelists
• Technology Evangelists
• Food Evangelists
• Customer Evangelists
• Marketing Evangelists

When one is called a Digital Evangelist, it means that they have mastered techniques in a particular field and that they've earned the right to teach others.

As you can see, digital evangelists in business marketing and the religious worlds are very similar. They both have earned a certain level of expertise and their main job is to promote or teach others what they know.

We talked to a few evangelists that have tried digital evangelism before. It was clear that most of them failed because they approached the digital space as they do offline.

It is important for me to stress the fact that in order for you to be successful online, you have to structure your presentations a little differently.

Why You Need to Structure Your Digital Evangelism Presentation Differently From a Live Presentation.

There's a popular saying, " when in Rome do as the Romans do."

In order for an offline evangelist to succeed online, you have to do as the digital marketers do.

I know that the word marketing is one that most evangelists want to avoid but the truth is that you are marketers for Christ.

Let's first look at the differences between a live presentation and an online presentation.

Most live presentations are done in the church or a similar setting. People come prepared to listen to the speaker and the atmosphere usually dictates some level of reverence. People are usually attentive and movements are minimized.

On the other hand, a digital evangelism presentation does not have the same setting as a live presentation. People often listen or watch the presentation from home or office while doing something else.

The presenter has no control over the audience's attention level or reverence.

Understanding The Difference Between a Live and Online Audience.

A live church audience is different from the online audience in so many ways.

First, people in a church/sanctuary gathering usually attend the church they identify with. Their biggest drive is faith and so they go to church for various reasons which include faith, tradition, distance, fellowship, and relationships.

On the other hand, the online audience usually begins with a need or solution to a problem. Your online audience will find you because you've created content that answers their questions or solves their problems.

It is rather difficult to build trust and relationships online because people are consuming your content to solve a problem. Remember that these people are looking for something instant and so they'll move on once they've found what they are looking for.

For example;

Bryan's wife had recently lost her mother. She is going through a hard time dealing with her loss. Bryan fears that his wife would go into depression.

Bryan then goes online to search for tips on how to comfort his wife. He comes across content that you created on how to deal with loss and grief.

Bryan will consume your content only until he's gotten what he wanted. He will then move on to other things.

It is safe to say that even though your information was helpful to Bryan, he may not become a loyal consumer of your content.

It is also easy to lose Bryan if he doesn't find the information he seeks.

Let's say that Bryan comes across your website or online presentation and after watching the first five minutes he feels that's not what he's looking for.

Best believe that Bryan will move along on a quest to find meaningful or relevant information he needs.

Understanding the differences between your online and offline audiences will help you create a digital evangelism presentation that is relevant to audiences’ needs.

As Digital Evangelists, your job is to promote your faith and help solve people's problems. This means that your messages should be relevant to people's needs.

Therefore, it is vital to make sure that the audience is engaged at all times during your digital evangelism presentation and that your message is well received.

How To Structure A Digital Evangelism Presentation That Converts

As Christians, our main duty is to share God and the Good News to all. The Bible clearly states in Mathew 28:19 " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:"

I think the keyword here is " Go ye therefore." this means that we must try by all means to go out and spread the gospel. This includes reaching people where they are.

If you've looked at the latest trends in Christianity, you'll see that most people prefer to stay at home rather than go to church. Some have blamed the church for not being able to meet their needs while others say that the internet is to blame.

Since we already know how the business world is able to reach and convert for sales, we too must utilize the same or similar strategies to convert for the kingdom.

Let's look at our Tool Kit

Provide Value

We must remember that people experience real problems and when they do, they seek out solutions. Our job is to first, know the problems people or our audience is facing and secondly, help them find the solutions. The value system that we create must be relevant and specific to the problem.

The value system is what makes you unique. You see, when people are looking for a church to attend, they usually look at what kind of programs you have or the type of community.

The Digital Evangelism Presentation

Presenting online requires some changes to the way you present to your offline audience.

The traditional sermon builds up to the climax and finally an appeal. The online presentation is the opposite as you will see below.

1. The Introduction

This is probably the most important part of your presentation. Most people decide whether to stay or leave within the first few minutes of your presentation.

I would like to assume that your presentation is based on your audience's feedback or based on needs. If that's the case, then you're one step ahead of the game.

The Why

Your introduction must tell your audience why your 30-minute digital evangelism presentation is worth their time.

People want to know what is in it for them and so you have to make sure to make this section about them. This is where you need to make a connection with your audience.

The Promise

It is very easy to assume that everyone listening or watching your digital evangelism presentation is sitting down and paying attention.

But that's far from the truth. In fact, it is extremely difficult to keep your online audience's attention. That's why your presentation has to be relevant and should have a promise.

The keyword here is "Promise" because you don't want to say the solution at the onset. You want to give people a reason to stay and something to look forward to.

Confirm Your Status as the Expert

Although it is very difficult to form a relationship with your audience online, it is very important to present yourself as an expert. This is the part where you show your audience that you are qualified either by experience, academically or as an expert in what you're about to talk about.

People want the assurance that you know what you are talking about and that their time will be well spent.

Talk About The Objectives in Advance

You want to make sure that you connect to the needs of your audience. Again it is a good idea to use some of the information you've received during feedback to connect with your audience.

Use phrases like:

Maybe you tried this and that.
or if you've done ............. and this happened then this is for you.

The aim here is to make a connection and speak to people's needs.

Inspire Hope For A Better Future

This is the part where you show or talk about proof. People want to know that what you're about to tell them actually works. You may tell stories or even show videos of actual people that have tried what you're teaching.

Give Your Audience At Least Three Reasons Why They Should Stay Till The End.

If you've attended webinars or presentations, you may have heard the speaker say things like:

My promise to you is ... I'll give a solution to your problem

You may have something to give your audience at the end of the presentation. If this is a crusade, you may give your audience some notes for the next presentation or any free resources.

2. Digital Evangelism Content

The aim of the webinar or digital evangelism presentation is to drive your audience towards a solution to the problem or problems they're facing. You are to take your audience from point A to point B while keeping your eyes on the product and objectives of your presentation.

It is very easy to get carried away during this phase therefore, you must make it short and sweet. You must also keep your audience engaged by asking them questions and asking them to respond in the chat area.

Please note: I highly encourage you to find helpers that engage with people in the chart.

3. The Transition

In this phase, you want to recap the intro. You may say something like:

" At the beginning of this presentation, I promised that ... Lets now go ahead and talk about that.

4. The Solution

This is the offer part of the digital presentation. This where you present your solution and give hope to your audience. The solution may also include the next steps that people should take towards the solution.

5. The Give-Aways

You promised that you'll give people something to show your appreciation of them staying till the end. Most webinar software will allow you to upload files that people can download. You may also post links to some helpful relevant resources.

6. Ask For Donations

We all know that running a digital evangelism campaign costs money. This will be a good time to ask your audience to donate so you can continue to provide your services. Make sure to post a link to your donation page so people don't have to type in the URL.

7. Ask People to Stay On For Questions

Interaction is the best way to build a strong audience, trust, and influence. Tell your audience that you will stay on to make sure you answer all their questions.

This is the time where you get to answer questions people may have after your presentation. Take note of all the questions and make sure you attend to them. It would also be a good idea to save the questions so you may use them in personalized emails.

Conclusion

Although these are proven strategies of a successful presentation, it is by no means the perfect way. The perfect way is one that takes care of the needs of your audience.

Therefore, it is vital that you get feedback from your audience. Learn what works and what doesn't.

Please remember not to take negative feedback personally. Make sure you use it to improve your system.

Now that you know how to structure a high converting presentation, please check out the Digital summit for church article to implement it in a summit.