Friday, June 17, 2016

5 things To Avoid While Live Streaming

1. Not Testing Your Equipment

One of the golden rules of live streaming, or any live production, always  make sure and test your equipment.  Not just once or twice but over and over again.  Different tests will be important as well like testing individual equipment.  Most importantly, running an end-to-end test at the location of the event!   This is important because it doesn’t matter how many times you test everything beforehand. It could all change once you get on location.
Use testmyspeed.com to test your upload speed on-site. Then run multiple tests on the locations internet source and make sure you will have the bandwidth you need.
Test your stream on all the devices your users would be using like a desktop computer, iPad, iPhone and Android device. Make sure to monitoring the equipment throughout the event. Any issues need to be caught quickly to avoid any major disruptions of your stream.

2. Terrible Audio

When live streaming, we always focus so much on capturing perfect video, the audio can be easily overlooked. This mistake can be very costly for you.
If you’ve done a live stream from your computer like a presentation webcast for example, you know the importance of having good audio. You also know that using headphones is important because your computer speakers will pick up the audio from your presentation. This causes awful feedback and nasty distracting noise for your participating viewers. So it’s key to remember headphones and other sound audio practices.
Having a live stream that has top notch video but is not audible, does no good! If at all possible, use external microphones instead of your camera to capture better audio or get a direct feed from the audio soundboard.

3. No Audience Interaction

Nothing better than a nice afternoon nap instead of listening to the lecture that seems to go on and on forever. That’s what happens when there is no interaction between you as the presenter, and your viewers.
Here are a few ways to increase audience engagement during your live stream. Try using strategies such as a Q & A segment, polling questions, or even surveys can be a great way to keep your audiences’ attention.  The Q & A segments, best if done towards the end of your event, will act as a conversation between you and your viewers. Your viewers can ask questions regarding the live stream. It’s a good idea to take notes. You could benefit by using these ideas in your future events.
Use polls and surveys to find out important statistics and demographics about your viewers.  Things like location, age and what their interests are.
Of course social networks like Facebook and Twitter allows you to embed your videos right into their platforms. It’s a great way to communicate in real time by having them comment, like and share your event. Increasing your viewers is always an added benefit.

4. Inconsistent Streaming Schedule

If you’re trying to build a loyal following of your program, choosing to stream on different days or switching your time standard time slot will be a guaranteed way to lose viewers.   Be consistent with what time you choose to stream. Commit to one time so your viewers know when to tune in.
You’d hate for them to tune in to your regular 4pm show to find out they have missed it being aired at 3pm. Once you’ve lost a viewer due to their schedule, it’s going to be really hard to get them back. Pick a time, be consistent and stick to it!

5. Not Enjoying Yourself

You can’t expect your viewers to enjoy themselves if you aren’t. And as previously mentioned, you don’t want them napping during your presentation.  A survey from Slideshare shows  32% of participants say that an energetic speaker was the most engaging feature. One thing we like to do here at Chisel Multimedia is have fun! So, go out, be sure and have fun, smile a lot and you will see more engagement from your viewers.