Live streaming is a fantastic way to take your event beyond the confines of your venue and share it with the world. However, before you whip out your smartphone and go live, there are plenty of factors you need to consider to get the best value out of your streaming experience.
Watch what happens live
Preparation is crucial to live video, and ensures your broadcast goes off without a hitch. Think about all the planning that goes into your typical live production, such as a news bulletin, and apply it to your stream. Some factors you may wish to consider include:
Marketing efforts
It's all very well creating a live stream for your event, but there's little point if nobody knows that you're actually doing it. Make sure that those within the network of your event and other interested parties are aware of your live stream by promoting it across social media during the lead up. You can easily integrate this with the marketing for your actual event, particularly in email campaigns. Sending through the direct link to the stream means that those unable to attend can instantly connect to the event. As a bonus, mentioning which guest speakers or features will be live streamed can further generate the buzz around your feed.
Your audience needs
As with any media production, you'll need to have a great understanding of your audience to ensure that your content connects with them in the right way. Thankfully, those in events will already have the inside scoop of what their audience are looking for. When it comes to live streaming, however, you'll need to make sure your message translates through cyber-space with the same impression. Think about their needs – will they benefit from closed captions, or on-screen graphics to convey information? The key consideration here is that you want all parties to not only connect with your content, but to feel involved too.
Monitor your stream
A great way to keep accountable for your live stream is to have a designated person responsible for monitoring the feed. This way, someone on your team is experiencing exactly the same production as those watching away from the venue. If problems occur such as broken audio or lag, it's dealt with immediately, rather than waiting for a viewer to report the issue.
Think outside of your event
A good live stream allows audiences to follow what's happening at an event – a great live stream, however, connects them directly to the action. For this reason, it's best to treat your professional live stream not as an extension of your event, but as a stand alone show to capture your audience back home. Think about what this means in terms of subject matter. Perhaps part of your material references or acknowledges something that happened in person at the event, or a presentation made by a previous speaker. In this instance, it's good to recap your audience back home – weaving the context into your speech organically ensures they won't feel out of the loop.
As previously mentioned, it's best live stream practice to think of your live stream like something you'd watch on television, like a news bulletin or a comedy special. Acknowledge how these performers work both a crowd and hold the attention of those at home, too. Alternating eye contact between your camera and the in-person audience ensures you're directing your presentation at both parties. Make sure you're looking at the camera's lens, not the monitor – lack of eye contact can break an audience connection quickly.
Invest in proper production
There are plenty of benefits when it comes to using professional live streaming services for your event. Having your conference streamed in full HD means that your audience back home will see it as if they were sitting in the crowd in front of you. In fact, those viewing a professionally produced live stream can benefit from extra graphics to retain information – an experienced production team can help convey your message with pre-produced motion graphics to display information such as statistics.
Regardless of the size of your event, CMS Australasia is dedicated to providing a world-class live streaming experience. Our team of videographers, graphic designers and technical professionals have all the skills necessary to effectively deliver your event to a global audience with maximum impact. For more information on our streaming services, get in touch with the team at CMS Australasia.