Video Marketing
How Best to Run a Live Stream Event
Virtual events are already big: most of us have attended at least one. But did you know that by 2030, this industry is expected to grow in popularity nearly tenfold, reaching around $774 billion? By jumping on now and learning how it’s done, you could drastically improve the chances of your organization’s growth.
In this blog, we’ll give you our best pointers on how to get to and stay at the head of the curve, surmount the technological problems, and most importantly, put together an all-around amazing presentation.
Technology
You can use different platforms, depending on the size of the event. Zoom is obviously used a lot, but you might consider doing some research on alternatives like Whereby, BlueJeans, Skype, and Crowdcast, to name a few.
When you’re planning your virtual event, you should know the approximate number of people you’re expecting to attend. You don’t necessarily need to use a meeting platform that’s designed for a ton of users when you’re only expecting a few. Know how many people will be joining you and plan accordingly. But whichever platform you decide to use, make sure you know exactly how to use it before you start, or bring in someone who does.
You’ll also want to eliminate as many surprises as you can ahead of time: for example, you’ll want to know how many presenters you’ll be hosting, and find out which geographic locations the platform will need to support, which depends on where they hail from.
Behind the Scenes
One area in which many businesses tend to go wrong while hosting live events is with their backstage crew. If you’re hosting a small event like a monthly webinar, doing it on your own might not be a big deal. But if you’re planning on hosting a huge audience, we recommend you hire professionals. Starting off with a live stream producer (to help everything run smoothly during the show) and a sound operator is a great idea; and depending on what your setup looks like after that you may decide to bring in more crew to help things run even more smoothly.
One of the main advantages of hiring professionals is that they have worked in many similar situations and are far less likely to get hung up on unexpected technical difficulties. They will most likely have preferences on gear as far as mics, cameras, and broadcasting go, and it’s often helpful to rely on their experience instead of doing all the research yourself. We at Wahoo Films are always ready to help you out, even if you just need information!
Guest Presenters
If you are planning on having a host or other featured guests on your live stream event, you should be very explicit in your planning as to who will be presenting at what time. Include information concerning how their presentations will go: if they have a slideshow presentation or not, and when they’ll be voicing over if they do.
Before the event starts, you’ll want to brief all your guests/presenters on the purpose of the event. After all, you’re hiring them to do something, and their message matters both to you and to the audience! Each presenter needs to know about your brand and which tone you’re going for overall, whether that’s instructional, conversational, funny, or something else.
If your guests are not at your physical location, you may have to work out various problems such as wifi, mics, and cameras. Preferably, all the footage in your live stream event will be cohesive and of roughly the same quality to prevent confusion or appearance of unprofessionalism.
Before the Curtain
You’ll want to spend plenty of time preparing for the live stream before it starts: this much goes without saying. No show ever went off without a hitch the first time, much less when it was slapped together hastily. Take your time with the details, and make sure you know exactly what is going to happen when. It would even be advisable to do a rehearsal of the entire presentation beforehand if possible. This will help you iron out any technical difficulties. The more you rehearse, the less likely you are to run into something you haven’t encountered before.
Put just as much effort into your virtual presentation as you would into a presentation to a huge crowd. It’s all too easy to forget that you are presenting to a real-life audience through the screen, and even if you can’t see them, they can see you! They can tell how professional the live stream is just based on how you present. Taking steps to provide a quality experience can determine what they think of your brand, because no matter how clever your script is, the actual message and lasting impression you leave on your audience has much more to do with how you deliver it.
Check Out These Live Streams!
Summing it Up
We hope these tips help you with your upcoming live stream event and bolster your confidence in your own ability of pulling it off professionally. Here at Wahoo Films we’re all about staying at the head of the curve, exploring all possibilities, and right now it seems like live streaming is about to take off in a really huge way. We’d love to help you advertise your brand!
Questions?
