Visual silence is a powerful tool that removes visual distractions in an environment in order to amplify other focal points. When your community has fewer competing visuals to be stimulated by, greater focus will occur on what is still active in an environment. Think of visual silence as negative space in a real-world environment. Removing all or most distractions from your screen can help channel your community’s attention elsewhere.
Don’t be afraid of the dark. Black screens should not be feared, but embraced. Allowing your screens to go completely black during a worship song might be the best solution to help focus your community’s attention and remove all visual distractions. Without any text or graphics to look at, your community can have an uncrowded space to enter into a reflective time to listen, meditate and pray.
Some specific times when you might consider allowing your screens to go black are:
- Communion
- Instrumental music or solos
- Musical interludes and breaks in the music
- Offering
- Personal response or reflection times
- Prayer or times of meditation
To learn more worship lyric projection best practices read The Worship Media Handbook.
