When your church gathers for worship, one of the most important tools you use is the software to display worship lyrics. Good lyric projection keeps everyone singing together, builds confidence in your congregation, and minimizes distractions. But the way lyrics appear on the screen can make the difference between clarity and confusion.
Here are seven tips to help you display worship lyrics effectively—while taking advantage of features built into MediaShout church presentation software.
1. Keep slides clear and readable
Readability is key when projecting lyrics. A slide that’s hard to read interrupts worship and can pull the congregation’s focus away from God. That’s why the best-looking lyric slides often use a bold, simple white font, sometimes in all caps, against a subtle or dark background. This ensures text is visible from anywhere in the sanctuary.
MediaShout lets you save and reuse your preferred font, size, and style settings. This consistency ensures each service maintains a professional, readable look without extra effort.
2. Choose backgrounds carefully
Avoid busy graphics, overly bright motion videos, or distracting images behind lyrics. Even if something looks visually appealing, it shouldn’t compete with the text. Instead, choose subtle motion backgrounds, gradients, or solid colors. These create a visually engaging atmosphere while keeping lyrics clear.
For churches using MediaShout Plus, monthly media packs from partners like Shift Worship and Motion Worship provide high-quality background options that match modern worship trends without overwhelming your slides. Or you can consider the UNLIMITED Shift Worship Media Plan sold by MediaShout, which provides thousands upon thousands of professionally designed background and media packs… the content on Shift Worship makes it almost impossible to go wrong when choosing backgrounds, because it was literally prepared by experts for the one purpose of being used at churches like yours.
3. Use MediaShout’s Insert Lyrics window effectively
One of the standout features of MediaShout is its Insert Lyrics window, which has three modes:
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Edit mode: Update or fix a song in your library for future use.
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Arrange mode: Adjust the play order of verses, choruses, or bridges for a specific service.
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Fire mode: Display lyrics immediately, even while editing or rearranging slides.
This flexibility allows volunteers to quickly respond to changes, whether a verse is skipped, a chorus is repeated, or a song is added at the last minute. Operators can manage lyrics confidently without disrupting the flow of worship.
4. Familiarize volunteers with the songs
Even if your lyrics volunteer isn’t a musician, they should be at least somewhat familiar with the songs for the service. Encourage them to listen to the setlist in advance, and if possible, attend the Sunday morning run-through.
MediaShout also makes this easier because volunteers don’t have to search for and copy and paste lyrics. With features like SongSelect integration, slides can be updated or added quickly on the fly. NO copy and pasting necessary. Volunteers can follow along stress-free, even if the setlist isn’t fully finalized ahead of time.
5. Focus on timing and anticipation
Lyrics should appear on screen just before they’re sung, not after. This allows the congregation to join in confidently. Encourage volunteers to watch the flow of the service, anticipate changes, and practice cues with the worship leader.
Using MediaShout, slides can be advanced via keyboard, mouse, or even a remote app, giving operators multiple ways to stay ahead of the music. Timing is critical, especially during repeated choruses or dynamic musical changes. And with MediaShout’s Presenter View, it’s easy to find the thumbnail of any lyrics for any song, in any order, and click to immediately “fire” it to the screen.
6. Maintain consistency across slides
While creativity is appreciated, consistency is more important when it comes to lyrics. Keep fonts, colors, and layouts uniform across slides. At least on a per-service basis. If you’d like to change up your templates and styles, you could consider only doing so every few weeks or few months. This makes it easy for the congregation to follow along and reduces distraction.
MediaShout allows you to save templates for lyric slides, so you can maintain a consistent visual style for every service. This includes text positioning, font size, color choices, and even a background you prefer to start with—all designed for maximum readability.
7. Communicate and stay adaptable
Even with preparation, live worship services can change unexpectedly. A chorus might be repeated, or the band may go back into a bridge. Encourage lyric operators to stay connected with the worship leader and remain flexible. MediaShout’s Fire Mode, instant slide edits, and its natural ability to jump around to any stanza (whether in the normal Editing View OR the Presenter View) make these adjustments simple, ensuring that worship continues smoothly.
The ultimate goal is to remove distractions, allowing the congregation to focus fully on worship. By equipping volunteers with both training and tools like MediaShout, you create a seamless worship experience where the lyrics support the message, rather than compete with it.
Wrapping it up
Your software to display worship lyrics is more than a utility—it’s a ministry tool. When slides are readable, backgrounds are simple, volunteers are trained, and software features are used effectively, your congregation can worship without distractions. MediaShout makes this process straightforward, whether your team is preparing in advance or adapting on the fly.
If you want to see how MediaShout makes lyric projection simple and powerful, you can try it free for 14 days.
