Live Stream Tips And Tricks That Can Make Your Broadcast Better

People are starting to realize the importance of doing a live stream to reach a wider audience and increase engagement. The reason is, live streaming offers a high level of engagement and interaction that no other platform can offer.

“Eighty percent of people would rather watch a live video created by a brand than read a blog.” – Livestream

When doing a live stream, no matter what the content is, the level of engagement and interaction is always present. So if you are one of those people who have seen the power of live streaming but are unsure of what to do, I compiled some of the best tips and tricks for you!

How To Prepare For A Live Stream

This question is really common nowadays. Thus, I have thought of some of the things I usually do before doing a live stream.

1.Define Your Purpose.

When you want to do a live stream, you are not just going to speak in front of everyone. You have to communicate, you have to make sure you will be understood. You have to set a goal and understand your objectives. That way you will know the content you will offer. You will also be able to interact with your audience more effectively.

Thus you can ask yourself some questions that can help you define your main goal. Will you be doing a live stream to gain popularity and attract subscribers to your main page? Are you going to promote a product?

You have to realize your main purpose so will be guided and will be doing the right thing to achieve your goal.

2. Decide on your talking point.

Go over your topic after setting your goal for your live stream. You might tell me this one is easy, but it is actually one of the important things people are forgetting.

So before starting up, you have to select a kind of discussion you and your audience will talk about in your live stream. It is also a must for you to be knowledgeable about the topic you choose so you will speak with the right amount of confidence.

3. Determine the format.

Furthermore, you need to think about a specific format you think is appropriate for the topic you chose for your live stream. It may be in a form of a conversation between you and the audience, Q and A, interviews, or how-to videos depending on how you want to deliver your talking point.

This will give you a guide so your live stream won’t turn chaotic. With this, you will also prevent forgetting what you are about to do or say next.

4. Choose your platform wisely.

Choosing the right platform to conduct your live stream is the name of the game. It’s your way of considering your audience. Without a careful understanding of your target audience and the specific platform where you can find them, all your efforts will be wasted.

5. Prepare your equipment.

Whenever you want to do a live stream, it is important to check and prepare the equipment you will use

One thing you can do before going live is to test if the equipment you will use is running smoothly. You also need to check your internet connection and make sure it is reliable, so your followers won’t have any problems understanding you.

6. Write an outline.

Scripts are basically a waste of time. I have hosted several online events already and to be honest, scripts don’t make an incredible outcome as you expected.

These make the entire activity dull and make you as stiff as dead. When doing live streaming, what you need is just an outline of the key points you have to discuss with your audience.

Be yourself and show them your authentic side as a live streamer!

7. Reach out to your guest speakers.

If there are guest hosts for your live stream, it is also a must to prepare them ahead of time. Give them the instructions they need to see and understand to avoid confusion during the live airing.

Help them prepare technically so everything is settled when the event goes live. You will not worry about having technical difficulties on their end.

8. Practice.

Rehearsal is also needed in live streaming like stage plays you see in theatres. You can check everything two days or a day prior to the day of the online event.

Make sure you run a few tests in the space where you are going to live stream, with the equipment you selected to use. You can also conduct a technical check so to secure that everything is in place and working.

9. Establish social media monitoring.

During the live stream, you need to establish a sort of engagement with your audience. It does not only create an interaction between you and the people in the social media community but it also helps you not to worry too much about spontaneity.

Reading the comments of the people, allows you to pull out several talking points on the spot that you have not included on your list. That’s the essence of having social media monitoring all throughout your online broadcast.

Live Stream Tricks You Should Consider

1. Plan your content in advance.

Have you heard of the saying planning is everything? Well, it is—even on live streaming!

Planning your content will be helpful for you to reach your goals. You will know which one to talk about first, which one should come next, and when to publish and more! Planning will make everything easy because when you want to do a live stream, you can just sit in front of your camera, talk, and engage.

Can you imagine how chaotic it would be if you want to go live but are not that knowledgeable on the topic you want to talk about? Or you have a lot of topics but you are not sure which one you will use first?

Planning will make you more organized. And when you are more organized, you can show and tell people what they can look forward to.

2. Invest in the right equipment.

For starters, your smartphones and computers with a working built-in microphone and webcam are enough to start your live stream. But for a much greater experience in terms of live streaming, you can consider the basic streaming setup I have for you in this article.

As your audience gets bigger, you have to show them you are growing big too. And a part of that growing up is investing in much better equipment.

3. Make sure to back up your files.

Well, one of the common problems that most live streamers are facing, is losing their files. Hence, losing endless possibilities to use or repurpose their videos.

You have to keep in mind that your live streams can be turned into other types of content. Moreover, you can re-upload, post the repurposed content across every social media channel, and more! Thus, it is really a must to back up your files, so whatever may happen to your computer, you are sure you can always get them when you need them.

4. Engage with your viewers.

To make a live stream more successful, you have to make sure that you are engaging with your viewers.

One great example to do it is by asking them questions or letting them ask questions. Another great way is to invite someone to your live stream.

Doing these things can make your live stream more engaging and attractive to viewers. Convince your viewers to participate. Ask them to engage with you while you engage with them.

Most successful live streamers try to speak and connect with their viewers to gain more trust from them. You should try it, it’s extremely effective!

5. Promotion can send your brand to greater heights.

One thing that you should not do is to surprise your audience. Well, sometimes it works but only to those who have established their names already in the industry. For beginners like you, you still have to go on a process of promoting your craft.

Promotion is necessary for your activity to have known by your target audience weeks or days before the live streaming. Allow them to anticipate what will happen in your online event. Keep them interested and excited the moment you gave them a taste of it until the day you go live.

The Final Thoughts

Preparing for a live stream is easier said than done. So before starting, you have to make sure that you, your topic, and your equipment are ready.

Consider doing the tips and tricks I have listed above. Well, I am not a pro and I have just started up live-streaming a year ago. But I was able to come up with these tips and tricks by experience and I hope they will help you too.

Do you plan to do live streams using your mobile phone? Check this out!