5 Tips for Professional Streaming to Facebook
Simon Malone from Tricaster Operator breaks down five simple tips he has learned from professional live streaming to Facebook.
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Facebook Live Streaming – 5 Tips for Creating Professional Live Events
The tips below are based on my experience of creating professional Facebook Live streaming events for companies and creative agencies in the UK. These tips are really intended for organisations who are happy and prepared to invest some time and money into creating a professional production, rather than creating DIY broadcasts using mobile phones or tablets. All the examples (good and bad!) I’ve included in this post are from Facebook Live events that have been produced by organisations using professional equipment. I hope you find these 5 tips for creating professional Facebook Live streaming events helpful.Tip 1: Plan the production and rehearse the flow of the event
The temptation with Facebook Live is to hit the “Go Live” button on the page and just go for it! For a lot of pages, this off the cuff style might work well, but if you want your brand or product to look professional and be taken seriously, this approach can more often than not come across as amateurish. The huge increase in online video has increased the audiences expectations in terms of production values and the harsh reality is that if people think the live stream isn’t up to scratch, they’ll just switch off. I always recommend a run through of the content with the presenter, a plan of what camera will be used at specific points and clear cues if a video or image is planned to be shown during the broadcast. Also, a clear cue for when the stream has begun always makes for a great start to the broadcast. The clip below shows how untidy a broadcast can look if there is no clear cue that the presenters are on air and no rehearsal or planning on how to introduce the live event:Tip 2: Use good quality audio and set it up properly
A really important part of any live production that is often overlooked is the audio quality. Viewers will forgive the odd camera judder or slightly random shot while they are watching a live broadcast, but one thing they won’t put up with is bad audio. If they can’t hear the content properly, they’ll just switch off. We’ve all heard online streams which sound like they’ve been recorded underwater or where it sounds like the microphone is ½ a mile away from the presenter. The reality is that it’s pretty cheap and easy to use professional mics during a live broadcast and it really does make all the difference. Here’s a Facebook Live video where the message is totally lost due to a number of different issues going on with the audio:Tip 3: Select an appropriate background for your Facebook Live Broadcast
When thinking about creating professional Facebook Live Streaming events it’s worth considering that the majority of Facebook Live streams are over 10 minutes long. As a result the background the viewer sees during the broadcast is really important. It’s great that there are so many options available and if the background can reflect the key point of the broadcast then it’s even better. We’ve all seen examples of random backgrounds that look messy and untidy and they can be really distracting to the viewer. The good news is that it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to fix this and all the examples below were either filmed on location or required very little budget to pull together.
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