I grew up in the music industry. My dad, Evan Williams, taught audio engineering and record producing at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, CA for 30 years. He became somewhat of a local legend as many of his students went on to be well-respected audio engineers.
In addition to teaching, he owned and ran Sonic Thrills Entertainment, providing high quality audio/video recording services to his clients. This is where I received most of my training without even knowing it. You see, being his daughter meant I was free help. But in hindsight, I received an education that couldn’t be bought. I’ve learned more from being my Daddy’s little worker bee than any other job or training I’ve ever had, and not just in the technical arena but also about life.
The workflow of a tech director will vary depending on the size and technical complexities of a church, but for this article, I want to focus on five key principles I learned from my dad that I believe are essential for any tech director to have a successful and fulfilling experience in the role.
Be Teachable
There’s this misguided notion that a tech director must know everything about anything technical. This just isn’t the case.
During my day job at QSC, I’ve had the pleasure of working on postproduction with my co-worker, Jon Graves, who’s worked with top artists such as Motorhead, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Money, and more. Working alongside Jon has shown me how much I still have to learn. I have made it a point to pay close attention to what he’s doing when he’s mixing and listen intently when he teaches me a new concept or alternative way to approach something.
Being teachable means not being afraid to ask questions. Sometimes it means acknowledging and learning new information, sometimes from those who may not have the same amount of experience as I do. This is obviously a vulnerable place to be in since I’m expected to know a lot already. But the truth of the matter is, in our ever-evolving technical world, none of us will ever be done learning.
The best teachers are those who are willing to be taught. This brings me to the next key principle.
Reproduce Yourself
My dad and I used to take long walks together. In these times he would share the most impressive words of wisdom about life. I remember on one walk, he said to me, “If you want to leave a legacy for others to follow, then reproduce yourself.” In other words, teach other to do what you do. This nugget of wisdom has stuck with me all my life.
In my role as tech director at my church, this has been a top priority. My church runs largely on volunteers who donate their time. When I’m working with my volunteers, I’m often starting at the very beginning with their AV training. I have them shadow me. I include them in the process. I explain what I’m doing as I go. I make training videos. I have hands on classes outside of church events. I try to make every moment a teaching moment.
I must be honest here; teaching others takes a whole lot of effort. It would be so much easier just to run everything by myself. But the return outweighs the effort in every way.
Once a volunteer has been trained, they are empowered to skillfully operate the AV equipment with confidence. They feel a sense of worth. There’s a sense of community as we all serve the body of Christ. As a director, my time is leveraged, when my skilled volunteers are running events.
For those whom I teach, I leave them this challenge, “Go teach someone else to do what you do.” And so, they get paired up to train less experienced volunteers. I have found that teaching someone else a skill that I know, further reinforces my understanding of that skill…and so the cycle goes.
Strive for Excellence
I believe that God wants us to be the best that we can be so we can serve Him to our fullest capacity.
On a practical level this means further study of my craft. Continual research and development on new equipment and technologies. Creating innovative ways to teach others.
On a spiritual level, this means staying grounded in the Scriptures through personal times of devotion. It means engaging my mind as the pastor is teaching from God’s Word rather than checking my brain at the door when I’m finished mixing the worship time. It means applying God’s Word to my life daily.
If I were to strive for excellence on a practice level only, this would lead to a whole lot of knowledge with a lack of humility. This is why spiritual development is so important. It puts the attitude of my heart in a proper perspective.
Be Humble
I could write an entire book on this one. It’s very easy when you excel at something to lose sight of this character trait. The Scriptures remind me that “Pride goes before a fall.” (My paraphrased version of Proverbs 16:18). I’ve learned that if I don’t humble myself, the day will come when I will be humbled.
Early on in my role as a church audio engineer, I really thought I was so cool running sound at a large pastors’ conference until one of the guys who worked for the worship leader came back to my mix position and told me everything I was doing wrong and had me step aside. Ok, so that really hurt my pride.
Being humble means being willing to receive instruction and criticism and learn from it. It means never putting someone else down to lift myself up. It means accepting praise from others graciously realizing that it’s God who has given me this ability.
Remember Who You Work For
The previous four principles seem to naturally fall into place when I remember who I work for.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Col 3:23-24.
Ultimately, I work for the Lord Jesus Christ. When I adhere to this, God has a way of working through my work. I know it seems silly that God could use a tech director for ministry, but I’ve learned to look for those moments where God can use me to speak into someone else’s life and allow His love to shine through me.
I was setting up for a memorial. A six-year-old girl was scheduled to read Psalm 23 in front of a microphone. She was absolutely petrified and in tears. Her mother was panicked and didn’t know what to do so I got on my knees and put my arm around the little girl and said, “Let’s practice together.” I taught her how to use the mic. We practiced Psalm 23 five times together until she gained her confidence. When it came time for her to read it during the memorial, she was flawless, and the entire audience was brought to tears.
More Than Just a Job
I maintain that the role of a tech director is more than just a job. Yes, a tech director should be a skilled individual who can oversee the development, management, and implementation of AVL (audio, video, lighting). But in addition to this, I have found that adhering to these five key principles (Be Teachable, Reproduce Yourself, Strive for Excellence, Be Humble, Remember Who You Work For) makes the role of a tech director a joyous and fulfilling one.
About the author
Golden Preciado is a Training Specialist and House of Worship Specialist for QSC. Golden grew up in the music industry and followed in her dad’s footsteps as an audio engineer, musician and worship leader. Golden is an accomplished front of house and broadcast engineer not only in the church world but in the secular music industry as well. She enjoys teaching her skill set to others, including online and on site where training is needed.
