How To Go Live on Social Media

It’s always best to plan out your live in advance. Here are some tips and tricks to consider before pressing that go live button. 

Nine times out of ten people don’t stick around for mishaps or any unplanned mistakes. We’re in an era where everything is instant and somewhat structured. Unfortunately, no one is sticking around while you get it together. Think about lives as your personal news broadcast, what all anchors have in common is the task of getting the news/message out. Always take into account what your bottom line and overall message are. 

Go live before your live! Do a quick run-through to make sure you have a good enough connection to ensure a successful live. 

Close the door! If you have kids or are in a noisy part of your home or office, make sure to move to a quiet location. It can be distracting hearing little Billy slamming his toy car into the wall or a tv/radio playing in the distance. Your phone will pick up all those sounds big and small. 

Have a drink of water! This may seem mediocre or obvious, but you’ll be surprised how quickly your mouth can turn into a desert while talking. 

Next, make certain your screen is clean. Yes, this may also seem obvious, but there’ve been many lives that started off with the person looking like they’re in a cloudy dream. Wiping your phone(with a cloth, not your fingers) will ensure your image isn’t blurry and is clear on the viewers’ end. 

Once you’ve done that, make sure your phone is fully charged. A phone at 60% can quickly lose juice when you’re on the internet live. Depending on how long you’re planning to go live, you wanna make sure your battery is at 75-80 percent. This way you’re not stumbling to charge your phone while you’re broadcasting. 

Then, make certain your background(whatever your back is facing) isn’t white or too light. This is to make sure you and your viewers can read the comments. Since the words are white, it’ll be hard to make out; you want your live to not only be impactful but informative. 

Afterward, check your internet connection. Granted, Instagram & Facebook check the strength of your connection before you’re able to actually go live, and if it isn’t sufficient, there will be a message that reads the connection isn’t strong enough. If that message doesn’t pop up, your live will pause/freeze during your broadcast, which indicates a low connection. So make sure you’re in a good location, preferably with a WiFi Connection. For the best connection, having 2-3 bars and 4G is good. 

Make sure when you’re going live on IG you aren’t too close to the screen. The reason being; if you plan on saving the video to your IG tv you don’t want all four corners of the screen filled thus cutting off your forehead, eyes or chin. So make certain you’re a couple of inches away from your screen. A good distance is showing your neck and shoulders in the frame. 

Before you start your live write out, copy, and paste a short line/message (not over 16 characters/words)to pin in the comment section of your live. This is so your viewers & newcomers have some context about what’s what. 

Interact with your audience; people love it when you greet them by their name or username. It makes the live and your brand that much more relatable and personable. People are more likely to follow and/or become a customer when you engage in a friendly exchange. 

If your live gets cut off midway (it happens, and sometimes it has nothing to do with you), start from the beginning because you lose people who won’t necessarily come back to see what happens. So start your intro over, your name, who you are, what, where, and why you’re going live. This could promote engagement and encourage a re-share with the viewers’ own following. 

Last but not least, be yourself. It may seem hard or strange to talk to a screen, but there are humans on the other end who need and want to hear what you have to say/share! 

Also, people can tell if you’re nervous or uncomfortable, try to relax and breathe..

You got this!