Presentation

How to display announcements on screen before church

The screens before your service are prime real estate — everyone's looking at them as they settle in. Used well, a pre-service announcement loop quietly does half your communicating for you. Used badly, it's a wall of tiny text nobody reads. Here's how to make announcement slides that actually land.

The pre-service loop earns its keep

The ten minutes before a service is the one time you have people's undivided, relaxed attention on the screen. A well-made loop welcomes newcomers, points people to what's coming up, and sets the tone — all without taking a second of platform time. It's worth doing properly.

Design slides people can actually read

The rules are the same as for scripture slides: assume the back row.

• One idea per slide. Don't cram three events onto one — split them.
• Big, bold text with strong contrast against a simple background.
• A few words, not paragraphs. A headline, a date, a next step. That's it.
• A clear call to action — where to go, what to do, how to sign up.

How long should each slide stay up?

Long enough to read comfortably, twice. A rough guide:

If you use a QR code for sign-ups or giving, leave it up long enough for people to actually get their phone out and scan — that's longer than you think.

Keep the loop tight

• 5 to 8 slides is plenty. A loop of twenty means the important ones rarely get seen.
• Order by priority — most important announcements first and again near the end.
• Retire old slides. Nothing says "not paying attention" like last month's event still looping.

How to run it

Most presentation software can run a looping slideshow. The practical steps:

1. Build the slidesOne idea each, big text, clear action.
2. Set them to auto-advanceWith the timings above, looping back to the start.
3. Send it to the screen, not your laptopUse extend mode so only the loop shows — see dual-monitor setup.
4. Start it earlyGet it running as people arrive, not as the service begins.

For getting it onto the right screen cleanly, see dual-monitor setup for church presentation.

When the service starts, hand the screen over

The moment the sermon begins, your screens have a new job: showing the Word being preached. That's where the pre-service loop gives way to scripture. With TajiCast running, you don't have to manually swap decks or hunt for verses — as the preacher speaks a passage, it appears on the same screens automatically, so the transition from "announcements" to "the sermon text" takes care of itself.