Lip Sync

David Buckner

Get Attention:
Lip-syncing is by far one of the most effective entertainment and crowd-gathering tools that has ever been thought of. If done well, even if done only fairly well, a lip sync to a good song is an extremely powerful form of creative entertainment with the potential to create a ministry situation. Granted, there will probably never be anyone who will accept Jesus as a direct result of a lip sync, but it will gain you access into the hearts of more people than you could ever imagine. If done well, a lip sync will draw a crowd, tear down walls, entertain, and build a bridge between the performer and the audience within the course of one song. A couple of lip-syncing tips are:

• Choose songs that are usually funny just by themselves
  (Ray Stevens, Spike Jones, etc.)
• Involve the audience whenever possible. If you do pull someone up from the audience, don't expect them to humiliate themselves without you doing it too. If you ask them to lip sync something do it with them so they will at least attempt it. Otherwise, you will be the one who looks funny (and not in a good way). AND, you've built a wall rather than tear one down.
• Props are good, but don't let them become a distraction.
• Make sure you KNOW THE SONG!!! If you want to lose a crowd quickly, lip sync a song you don't know very well. The general rule is to practice it until you can do the song without the original playing. Then to practice it 5 more times for good measure.  NEVER turn your back on the audience.
• When they can't see your mouth moving it has lost its appeal. 
• Exaggerate everything. Blocking, motions, and especially your facial expressions and mouth movements.

Do Something Eternal With A Moment:
Because lip-syncing is for pure entertainment, you will have to incorporate more after you are done in order to complete your purpose for doing it in the first place. Using the lip sync to form the crowd, then using some other form of creative ministry for ministerial purposes is a common way to insure that seeds get planted. Whatever is done, just be sure that an effort is made to plant a seed. Use the lip sync to plow the field and let the more direct messages of other forms of creative ministries plant into those fields.

Resources:
Ray Stevens. Any recording by him will have usable songs for lip sync. It could be the easiest lip sync material ever produced.

Spike Jones. A little tougher to master, but incredibly effective when perfected.

Any other silly / entertaining songs would work. There are other forms of lip-syncing out there (i.e., taking a top 40 hit and dancing/syncing), but for our purposes, the humorous style of lip-syncing is far more effective.