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The Sunday Operator Cheat Sheet

Tape it to the booth desk. Nobody remembers the glitch — they remember whether it got fixed.

01 The Panic Protocol

When the screen goes wrong, you have two problems: the technical one, and the panic. Solve panic first — it takes four seconds.

Exhale once Hands back on the keys Say it: “the room is fine”

Breathe, then diagnose — you have more time than it feels like. A blank screen for thirty seconds costs nothing; thirty seconds of panicked clicking can turn a one-click fix into a restart.

02 Preview First — Always

Any screen in the building is wrong? Look at that output’s preview pane first. It shows what ProPresenter is sending, and it splits every problem in two:

Preview RIGHT → the problem is downstream.

Projector or TV powered on? Right input? Cable seated at both ends? Clicking things in ProPresenter won’t fix it — fire the Logo to buy calm while you check the chain.

Preview WRONG → it’s in the software. Fix it from your chair.

Cleared a layer without meaning to? Refire the slide. Wrong Look? Check the dropdown. In Edit mode instead of Show? Switch back. Wrong presentation selected?

03 The Clears

Clear Slide / Esc: Words off, background keeps rolling. Esc is the panic key.
Clear Media: Kills the background — the words stay.
Clear All: Everything off at once. Honest but blunt: the full reset.
Logo: Not a clear — a destination. It says “we’re between things.” Black looks like a mistake; the logo looks like a plan.

The best clear is the one you planned: a blank slide built into the song on Thursday. Lyrics drop, background rolls, next slide picks right back up.

04 Live Doctrine

The leader jumps (“one more time!”) → eyes to the group colors, click the chorus slide directly. Never re-arrange live — arrangements are prep-time tools.
Unplanned song, no lyrics built → keep the worship background rolling. Never logo, never black — the room is in a thing, not between things.
Lyrics out of sync → don’t chase with arrows. Stop, listen, jump by group color. Can’t place the section? Esc, listen, fire.
Typo on screen → it depends. Fast slides: do nothing. Second service coming: note it, fix between. Editable: calm edit in a safe window, re-fire. Uneditable: filled text box over the error, correction on top.

05 Blank Screen at 9:58

Breathe once. Nothing sacred is on that screen yet.
Is the screen or projector even turned on?
Is ProPresenter outputting? Eyes to the preview panes.
Is the computer connected to the display at all?
Screens menu: audience output enabled? Then Screen Configuration → Identify labels every display, so you can see which one ProPresenter is reaching.
All good in software? Go downstream: input, cable at both ends, anything in between.
Still dark at 10:00? Tell the service lead and start without it. “Lyrics by the second song” is a plan.

06 Messages & Timers

Someone built them on a Tuesday. Sunday is fill, fire, clear.

Nursery call: open Messages, type the number, Show. It floats above the lyrics; the words keep going.
Parent’s up and moving → Hide. A message left on screen is the new typo. Confirm it showed; confirm it went away.
Countdown: start it, confirm it’s visible on the output — and know what yours does at zero before Sunday.