‘What to say when leading worship’ is a topic that’s not given the important it deserves.
I mean lousy speaking is probably the no. 1 pet peeve people have against worship leaders! More specifically—what we speak, when we speak, how we speak, and above all—how long we speak!
Now, this doesn’t mean we should stop speaking all together! But, a greater focus on speaking well, will help us add value to the worship with our words, instead of them becoming a hollow distraction.
Singing songs is only one component of our worship—speaking the right things at the right time matters too in the interest of building a positive connect with the congregation.
What to say when leading praise and worship—7 tips to get better at using words
1. Plan ahead
When planning worship, don’t stop with just creating great set-lists. Visualize the moments in the set when it would be appropriate to speak.
Prepare for those moments with scripture verses, an inspirational insight, or maybe even something about the song.
You don’t need an airtight memorized script; but don’t leave everything to the last moment either. Plan the content (brief points) around which you will be speaking, in advance. This will shield you from nervous random rambling.
2. Look
Think of it as any other conversation—how would anyone feel if you close your eyes and talk to them? Not cool, right?!
How to say it is also as important as what to say when leading praise and worship .
So, open those eyes and look at your people. If that scares you, here’s a public speaking trick: start by looking at the heads of people (their hair basically!) instead of their faces. People will still feel like you are looking at them.
And smile too while you’re at it (btw, read this article for more tips to improve how you engage with your congregation).
3. Invite
Let’s say you want the congregation to experience worshipping with uplifted hands. “C’mon people, lift those hands” would sound a bit instructional, and may put off some people.
Instead, we could try something like, “You know, the Bible tells us in Psalm 134:2 to raise our hands and bless the Lord. Can we try that now and use our hands to praise Him as we continue to sing to Him?”
You see, ‘we’ and ‘us’, are better than ‘you’ and ‘do’. That’s the best language to use when thinking about what to say when leading worship.
Every move you make and every word you speak will be communicating one of two things – watch me, or worship with me. – Tommy Walker
I loved how Paul Baloche did it during a concert—“The Bible tells us to praise the Lord by lifting up our hands. For those who are comfortable with this posture, why don’t we raise our hands…” (I’m paraphrasing here, but you get the idea).
Use scripture… a lot! The Word has more power to move people into worship than whatever clever liners we can come up with. So, there you have one more reason to be a student of the Bible. When we speak God’s Word in faith to our people, the worship easily shifts to another level.
Be invitational, conversational, and one-of-the-congregation instead of using ‘me’ vs. ‘you’ language. There are not too many people out there who like an aloof megastar.
4. Pick your moments
Don’t speak between every song in the set—that would make us annoying one-trick ponies.
If a lyric needs more explanation, do it at the beginning of the song on top of the musical transitions. You could say a few words during an instrumental solo too.
And btw, stop calling out every line in the song when people have it on the screen anyways—not clever!
If need be, call out only the first line of the next song section (verse, chorus, bridge etc.), so that the person managing the slides, the band, and the people are all in sync with you.
Then, there are also songs, which facilitate us to speak between lines in a section too. Take the song “Your Grace is Enough” by Matt Maher:
Great is Your Faithfulness O God
[Count 2-3-4 and 1-2-3-4]
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart
[Count 2-3-4 and 1-2-3-4]
You could easily speak something quickly to encourage people to sing along during the spaces between the lines.
Here’s an example (the spoken lines are in bold):
Great is Your Faithfulness O God
[Count 2-3-4 and 1-2-3-4]
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart
[Thank You Lord for never giving up on us]
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
[Count 2-3-4]
And nothing can keep us apart
[Let’s praise Him for His daily Presence]
As you can see, what we speak can be a one-line prayer to God voicing everyone’s hearts or we could speak directly to the Church inviting them to participate.
5. Include emotions
People connect better when we rope in emotions and feelings, so feel free to use emotionally descriptive language.
When considering what to say when leading praise and worship, it’s also important to speak like a human—so using emotional language is perfectly fine—after all, we are emotional creatures!
Examples: “Let’s experience the joy of singing to the Lord freely!” Or “How amazing, friends, that we are able to join with Heaven now as we worship the Lord!”
6. King of the content is… the King!
Like the songs that we sing, our words also need to point to God—nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Talk more about the Lord, and less about ourselves. For e.g., suppose we are singing “You Alone Can Rescue”, we could say something like this:
“Friends, this song is a wonderful reminder that no matter how great the divide, the grace of Christ is far greater; it’s more than enough for all us! Maybe some of us are feeling frustrated at not being able to beat a particular habit, or a sin. Instead, let’s lift our eyes to the grace that has already rescued us!
This grace will surely lead us home! Trusting this grace, let’s sing the chorus again with joyful and thankful hearts!”
To sum up—let’s choose words that glorify God, and draw people to Him. This is a key element when planning what to say when leading praise and worship.
7. Watch the clock
You know what’s worse than speaking wrong?
Speaking for too long!
No matter how wonderful a speaker you are, the worship leader’s speaking can only make passive listeners out of the congregation.
Our more important goal is active congregational participation. So consciously practice brevity and limit yourself to 30-45 seconds.
If you want to speak longer, you better be super-led by the Spirit!
Also, to maintain clarity and focus, it helps to share just one thought or scripture verse at a time.
I am sure you agree that speaking well is important when leading worship. Do you find these tips useful? Can you drop a comment and share what works/doesn’t work when planning what to say when leading worship?
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March 26, 2018 @ 2:15 pm
[…] key, during which time you can change your capo position, say your prayers, read scripture, talk to your congregation and so […]
March 31, 2018 @ 11:10 pm
This was the most helpful to me. Even though I have served as worship leader before, it is always good to check every now and then to see if you are still on point with your approach to it since things and people can change over time. Excellent instructions !
April 14, 2018 @ 2:30 pm
Thank you for your feedback Sheron, God bless.
September 14, 2021 @ 9:15 pm
I really appreciated it because its help me alot as a new worship leader.i always close my eyes when i lead to worship because im nervous and shy but now i will practice this tips
April 3, 2022 @ 6:09 pm
Great tips
April 21, 2022 @ 6:30 am
Thank you
April 8, 2018 @ 4:39 am
God bless you very great, i found this tips very helpful. Thanks
April 10, 2018 @ 5:11 pm
Thank you Fajemifo, glad you found them useful.
April 13, 2018 @ 7:40 am
God bless you love.
The tips were really helpful.
more grace to you in Jesus name.
April 14, 2018 @ 2:27 pm
Thank you Olayioye, stay blessed!
April 14, 2018 @ 3:38 am
🙂 this really help me. thanks for this writers! God bless you:)
April 14, 2018 @ 2:27 pm
Thank you clarissa, glad u found it useful!
September 30, 2020 @ 3:20 pm
I have been blessed tremendously.
Thanks for sharing and God bless you.
April 19, 2021 @ 4:31 am
Thank you!
April 28, 2018 @ 7:04 am
Thank you very much for you thoughts and very inspiring message God Bless
February 13, 2020 @ 8:19 pm
Wow!!! I’m so inspired by these tips. Thanks a lot.
April 24, 2022 @ 5:24 pm
Thank so much. I was really blessed by it and would put it into practice when ministering. God bless you.
May 18, 2018 @ 1:53 pm
this is really good tip,,it can help me improve leading worshipper into worship,thanks a lot
July 8, 2021 @ 12:27 am
It’s very helpful for me, now I have some idea how to lead Praise and Worship.. As a begginer worshiper I make this as a practice.. Thank You so much. MAY GOD RICHLY BLESS YOU..
June 8, 2018 @ 5:27 am
This is inspiring and helpful for me God bless you. Phemmypraise
August 18, 2018 @ 2:29 pm
When it comes to speaking while leading worship I like to ask 4 questions:
1 – “Where are we headed?” – I find that helps set the direction for what I want to say. It helps me figure out what the end goal is.
2 – “How are we getting there?” – This helps me nail down the specifics. What are the specific things we’re going to do to get where God wants us to be?
3 – “What does my church need to know” – I always have to remember that my church doesn’t know where we’re headed during the morning. I know because I’ve been planning all week but I’ve got to specifically lay it out for them.
4 – “What does my church need to do?” – I don’t want to just leave my church with information. I want to let them know what they need to do: whether that’s focus on a particular characteristic of God, or go before God in prayer. Whatever it is, I think giving them an action step is always important.
September 3, 2018 @ 1:14 pm
Wow Wow Am so so grateful, wonderful you really Helped me big big times. God Bless You.
September 17, 2018 @ 7:45 am
I am so much blessed 🙂 Thanks for the tips.
September 21, 2018 @ 8:37 am
God is great! This is more than helpful! I’ve learned a lot and I pray that as I practice these 7 tips, more people will enjoy worshipping the Lord and experience intimate moving of the Holy Spirit!
September 25, 2018 @ 4:57 am
Thank you for the encouragement Richelle!
September 22, 2018 @ 7:09 pm
You are used by God.
July 17, 2019 @ 10:39 pm
Thanks I’ve learnt some tips today. This would help me . God bless you.
August 2, 2019 @ 5:38 pm
Thanks for the encouragement Binu!
October 5, 2018 @ 2:46 pm
Thank you so much for these 7 tips. I especially love the examples. I struggle with what to say during worship a lot. I have been spending more time in the word, so that I let it speak for me. I will spend more time with planning not just the worship set but also with verses and speaking points in between. Thank you so much. May God continue to use you all and bless you all.
October 8, 2018 @ 5:35 am
Thanks for the encouragement Rose, God bless.
October 20, 2018 @ 5:50 pm
Thanks for the writeup. I am so blessed and i know it will bless my church too.
February 20, 2019 @ 1:38 am
I agree with you when you advise to plan ahead and visualize the moment when leading praise and worship so that you would know what to say. My sister wants to be a youth leader, and she always has this anxiety in speaking in public. This is a great tip. I will let her know to prepare in advance and to anticipate things that can possibly happen during the event to avoid mistakes.
April 18, 2019 @ 8:39 am
These are helpful tips. Thank you very much. God bless you.
May 5, 2019 @ 1:07 am
Thank you so much for the tips. This is so helpful.
June 7, 2019 @ 9:09 am
Thanks so much,these steps will help a lot I trust,I’ll be leading the worship today. Though I have put some of these steps to use already.
August 13, 2019 @ 7:02 am
I am really blessed by this piece, it will greatly improve my worship ability.I will need More of this.
August 22, 2019 @ 2:18 pm
I like that you said that when leading a worship service you need to feel the moment on where to talk to the people. My wife and I started assisting at a church and we want to be ready for anything. Thank you for helping us learn how to maintain your nervousness away.
August 23, 2019 @ 10:36 am
You’re welcome Ron, glad you found it helpful
September 8, 2019 @ 4:20 pm
I like your inspiration.
You have helped me so much.
May God see you very high
December 4, 2019 @ 8:56 am
thank you spreadworship for giving me wonderful information
December 26, 2019 @ 6:28 am
You’re welcome Rohit
March 8, 2020 @ 4:03 am
It’s so helpful to me thank you very much for sharing
August 5, 2020 @ 3:31 pm
Thank you Sir,taking praise for the first time today and have learnt a lot,I know with this teachings and with the help of the Holy spirit, I will do well.
April 19, 2021 @ 4:36 am
Thank you!
August 24, 2020 @ 10:32 pm
Thanks you so much I am so blessed with this wonderful tips it’s so helpful more grace in Jesus name
April 19, 2021 @ 4:36 am
Thank you!
September 8, 2020 @ 4:35 pm
I have really found these tips very helpful I’ll share them with our worship team here in Kenya God bless you for shedding light on this very crucial topic
April 19, 2021 @ 4:36 am
Thank you!
October 7, 2020 @ 10:50 am
This has really done a help here to me thanks for this tips God enlarge the depth of your understanding about music.
April 19, 2021 @ 4:32 am
Thank you!
October 21, 2020 @ 2:54 pm
Thanks a lot it was super helpful
April 19, 2021 @ 4:32 am
Thank you!
February 8, 2021 @ 2:39 pm
Thank you this was so important
April 19, 2021 @ 4:32 am
Thank you!
April 7, 2021 @ 2:52 am
Thanks for sharing these tips!
April 17, 2021 @ 9:06 pm
I find these tips very useful. Thank you for sharing. I mostly use scriptures prior to the start of the session.
April 19, 2021 @ 4:28 am
Thank you!
May 13, 2021 @ 9:20 am
This is very informative.
I have learnt alto.
May 29, 2021 @ 2:28 pm
Thank you this will me a lot to improve my worship leading for God’s glory.
May 29, 2021 @ 2:30 pm
this will me a lot…
October 8, 2021 @ 6:38 am
Thanks for that wonderful seven tipse
October 8, 2021 @ 6:50 pm
Thank you so much For this tips God enlarge the depth of our understanding about music.
October 30, 2021 @ 5:13 pm
Thank you for this spirit led contribution to the body of faith-praise and worship leaders
God Bless you
October 30, 2021 @ 5:15 pm
Thank you for your contribution to the body of faith-praise and worship leaders
GOD Bless you
May 3, 2022 @ 8:33 pm
God bless you. The tips is very helpful. I do appreciate it.
May 29, 2023 @ 12:15 am
Am so happy for this great inspiration towards we the praise and worship Leaders .May God elevate you more and more to spread the word of God as Matthew 28:19 says.
October 10, 2023 @ 4:09 pm
Thank you for sharing, this is very helpful. God bless you.