5 Ways to Improve Your “Live” Game on Social Media
October 17, 2018
Live streaming is one of the most interactive ways to communicate with consumers, and it’s become increasingly popular in business. Live streaming is used by social media members to share experiences with their followers or friends; whether at a sporting event, a concert, a wedding, or even a family barbeque. For businesses, it lends a unique opportunity for consumers to glimpse the normally invisible world of a company behind the scenes.
For those who are new to the concept, it can seem quite intimidating to transmit a video feed with no chance to pause and re-record should something go wrong. Rather than worry about what might happen if you mess up your “lines” or make a funny face on camera, focus on the message you want to share and be as natural as possible. There’s no rule book for a live feed, but there are a few ways to improve your social media streaming, and these are 5 of them.
1. Know What You Want to Say: Live streams are better without a script, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create and practice a plan before sending it to the internet for others to view. If you’re working on a campaign to promote a new product, for example, you might want to think about what you want consumers to know and what might attract new customers to try the product for themselves. Having this plan in place will make it easier to touch on the topics which are important to you while retaining a natural appearance.
2. Include Another Party: Live streaming on your own puts the pressure on, big time. If you live stream with a friend or colleague, you pass some of the creative responsibility on to somebody else. Sharing the screen time makes it easier to make a joke, recover from a minor mistake, or remember what you want to get across to the audience.
One of the successful ways streaming has helped businesses in the past is by giving a bird’s eye view of a company at its core. Showing customers around the office and letting them meet everybody from the receptionist to the warehouse employees makes something, which was once a distant company, seem like a real entity with friendly faces and a purpose.
3. Prepare Your Space: Before you go live, be sure that you have everything you need to create the perfect clip or show. There’s nothing worse than starting on a project which is being displayed live only to find that you’ve forgotten something. Before you press record, take a visual inventory of what you have to work with and whether you brought along everything you wanted to have for the session. Not only will you feel better knowing you’re prepared, but you’ll have less chance of making a mistake.
One of the ways to prepare is by testing your internet for any connectivity issues. Live streaming is a great concept, but it requires some steady WiFi or data feed. If your internet stops working while you’re recording, it will pause the video feed for anybody watching it. This could be considered unprofessional.
4. Have Purpose in Your Approach: Live streaming sounds fun, but if you’re using it as a business tool, make sure you stream with purpose. Have something worthwhile, relevant, and genuine to share with your audience. This can be something as simple as saying, “hi, we have cupcakes and coffee today at the dealership, so come on down and grab a bite!”
Being purposeful doesn’t necessarily mean being rehearsed or being formal. It simply means that what you’re saying is being said for a real reason and that it will make sense to the customer, conveying a worthwhile message.
5. Try Public Speaking: If the thought of live streaming really freaks you out, a great way to take some of the heat off is by public speaking. Speaking in front of strangers is daunting at first, but it’s just like anything else you try in your life; once you’ve done it a few times, it becomes easy, and before you know it, you’re a natural.
Public speaking puts you on the spot to speak in front of many people; while live streaming has an end result of speaking to many, but appears for all intents and purposes that you’re speaking alone with a camera by your side.
Practicing will help in any marketing situation, especially a live feed. Before you go on, run through what you want to say and what your vision is for the piece. Even if you’re improvising the whole thing, improvising through once in your head before you speak it all out loud will help things run more smoothly and make you confident about your speech.
You can also practice life streaming by physically recording and sending to only a few close friends. Gather feedback from the experience to determine what went great and what could use some improving. Chances are, if you can get through a live feed to friends alone without laughing, you can get through a live feed to a bunch of strangers without making any mistakes.
Whether this is your first time streaming, or this is old hat for you, consider sharing the stage with someone else, thinking about what you want to say, practicing a little public speaking, being prepared with all the equipment and props you need, and having a purpose to what you’re sharing with others.