Some Thoughts on Live Streaming

Last updated: May 13, 2021

Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve tried to do webinars, and then live streams, on a regular basis. That fell off a little in the summer when my son was born, but now it’s picking up again. Now that we have a babysitter, I can even set a regular schedule. So here are some thought I have around live streaming, and how I’m trying to improve.

I’m Still Finding My Theme

Live streams should have a theme – some are gaming channels, some are keyboard channels, etc. I’m still trying to find my theme. At first it was like a segmented show. News, updates, maybe some project I’m working on; that didn’t really work for me or my audience.

Then I thought I could get away with, “watch me work on whatever I happen to be working on,” but that’s not always compelling content. In a recent stream I had a good number of people at the start, but watching me come up with 30 headlines isn’t exactly compelling for most people, so I had a ton of drop off.

I think I’m settling on site build outs/code. But I’m still experimenting.

Note: I am trying to double dip here. I have a regular schedule again, but if I can kill two birds with one stone and get work done while I live stream, that’s ideal.

Pick a Time That Works for You and Your Audience

When my work week was less predictable, I would just pick a time on a day my wife wasn’t working. It was never the same time or day. That’s changing¹ and I think it’s going to very positively impact the stream.

Tell People You’re Live Streaming

On that same token, definitely tell people, in advance, that you’re streaming. I including it in my newsletter every Monday, and now send a separate email day-of². I also tweet day of, but plan to schedule more – one Monday and 2 day of I think.

I tried to avoid a separate email because I didn’t want to “spam” people. But they signed up for my newsletter (which you can do here by the way) to get my content. And my live stream is the most interactive content I do each week.

Interact with Your Audience

Some people like to watch passively or have you on in the background. But I think most are engaged and interested in what you’re doing. Definitely ask questions to get them talking, and give shoutouts to people who comment.

In the beginning, it won’t be hard to give a shoutout to everyone who comments.

Some Other Random Tips

• There’s more grace on a live stream than a polished video. You don’t need to be perfect, just entertaining and informative.
• Have an easy URL to direct people too. Mine is Casabona.Live. Plus, if I ever decide to change platforms, I can use the same URL. Speaking of…
• Pick the platform for you. Like most people, I went to Twitch fist. But I realized I spent a lot of time building an audience on YouTube; so for me, that’s the better place³
• Background music is nice. I just recently added this playlist to the background of my live streams and I think it adds a little personality. Especially because…
• You don’t need to talk the whole time. This was something I had trouble with in the beginning. I thought I needed to fill every moment with words. But that makes effective streaming harder. Sometimes you need to think about what you’re doing. That’s why the music helps.
• And finally, watch other live streams to get ideas. See what people are doing well and figure out if you can make that work in your stream.

Do What Works Best for You

Above all, know that it takes a lot of mental (and physical) energy to put on a live stream, so you should start slow and do what works best for you. You can always evolve and grow over time.

And if you want to see how I’m live streaming, you can catch me at Casabona.Live.

1. Wednesdays at 11am ET if you’re wondering! ?
2. People can opt-out of that specific email if they don’t care, but so far very few have done that! ?
3. I am experimenting with something called SwitchBoard, where I can theoretically be able to stream in multiple places. ?