Top Ten Ways to Build Rapport With Sound Techs

After writing Top Ten Ways to Build Rapport With The Worship Leader, I had two worship leaders offer to write similar articles from their point of view.

Here is the first from Jonathan Zajas .

Top Ten Ways to Build Rapport With Sound Techs

1. Understand
I’m surprised how many worship leaders don’t know anything about sound, acoustics, and the principles of a good mix. Educate yourself, read books, read websites (like behindthemixer.com!), go to conferences with your sound tech’s, etc.

An understanding of their job will help you (1) give educated suggestions, requests, and feedback (the good kind); (2) eliminate the majority of the stupid problems that can be caused by the poor use of equipment; (3) helps you both get on the same page and accomplish the task at hand with excellence while avoiding squabbles.

2. Equip
Don’t ask the world of your sound tech and then leave them without the necessary tools, resources, and training to get their job done. Buy the gear they need (maybe some ‘wants’ too), and pay for the necessary training whether it be in the form of books, videos, conferences, or one-on-one training. The bottom line is that the demands and requirements you place on your sound tech should never exceed what you’ve equipped them to do.

“Equipping” also applies to other areas such as giving them the song lists in advance, providing any canned music you want played in advance, giving them a clear order of service, and even lending out recordings to showcase the type and style of mix you want to achieve.

3. Encourage
The only time the sound tech hears from you shouldn’t be when something goes wrong. Encourage them when things go well (or even not so well). Give them a pat on the back after a good service and thank them for giving their time, energy, and technical talent and know-how.

4. Trust
Don’t micro-manage your sound tech to death. Trust them to do the job you’ve equipped and encouraged them to do and LET THEM DO IT! Trust them to understand the kind of mix you’re looking for and let them achieve it. Suggestions are fine, but don’t go overboard with it. If you feel like they missed the mark, encourage them and make sure you’re equipping them as necessary.

5. Invest
You’re most likely the pastor your sound tech has the most interaction with, so be a pastor to them! Love them, encourage them, bless them, and pour into his/her life. Treat them to lunch, take them to a concert and sit/stand behind the foh sound engineers and have fun watching them run sound for the concert. The bottom line is to invest in their lives, reach out and care for them on a personal level.

6. Be sensitive
Your sound tech probably has a family, a job, and a personal life. Be sensitive to all the demands that are on them and don’t overload them with responsibility or unnecessary trips to church. If you have only one sound tech, help them train a couple more from the church and let them have a break every once in a while (depending on your opinion of rotations).

7. Ask for and give feedback (the good kind), communicate!
I make it a point to go up to the sound tech after every rehearsal and before every service and ask them what they’re thinking. Ask if they have any input regarding what’s going on on stage, talk through the mix and what it’s sounding like today, make sure they have everything they need, etc. Talk after services too to discuss how things went and what (if anything) can be improved.

8. Never lay blame, or point out mistakes.
Probably the worst thing I’ve seen in churches is when the person on stage ridicules the sound guy for something that just happened. You know what? Things go wrong, equipment fails, and people make mistakes. Talk about it afterwards and work together to try and make sure it’s avoided in the future. Nothing good comes from laying blame or bashing someone from on-stage.

9. Check your attitude.
Nobody wants a diva on stage and the sound tech sure won’t appreciate it. And if your purpose for leading worship is to gain attention for yourself then you don’t have any business doing it in the first place.

10. Eliminate sides.
The people on stage and the person in the booth can often end up at odds with each other in a sort of battle between two “sides”. In my experience, most of this tension is derived from being uninformed and uneducated (goes back to my #1), but it can also be due to egos and haughty opinions. It’s our job as worship leaders or music pastors to eliminate these “sides” and instead promote and enforce unity with a singular purpose: to deliver the message of the gospel with excellence [or insert music/media ministry mission statement here].