My Experience of Going Live

Yesterday I jumped in at the deep end and tried out using LinkedIn Live for the first time. Video isn’t my natural arena and whilst I’m very happy addressing a group on Zoom and fondly remember the days when in person training was quite normal, talking out to the ether felt a little strange.

But it was also exhilarating and I’m getting on board with the advice that keeps coming in that live is the way forward and visibility is key. With this in mind, I wanted to share some tips that came out of my experience for anyone who is thinking about doing the same.

1????????????Don’t Delay

That’s to say, don’t think that a decision today will result in being able to go live tomorrow. There is an application process and LinkedIn took around a month to approve my application. Also, it’s not as simple as just going live once approved as LinkedIn doesn't have its own streaming platform but suggests a number of third party providers through which a separate account needs to be set up. Once that’s done, you have the opportunity to go live through any of your social media accounts simultaneously. Be mindful, though, that some accounts also have an approval process which isn’t necessarily instant – YouTube, for example, requires a verification that takes at least 24 hours.

I used the streaming platform Restream based on the fact that basic access is free and a social media savvy friend was already using it, but the demo of Streamyard (who also offer free basic access) showed it to be a very user-friendly system.

There’s more information on using LinkedIn Live here, including their recommended streaming providers and details of the etiquette around use.

2????????????Don’t Worry

If you think that you will only be ready to livestream once you have a perfectly polished piece to present, then you may need to rethink your motivation. Of course it’s important to have something to say, but livestreaming is all about putting your message out in an authentic way. The streaming platforms are sophisticated and can help with checking things like lighting and audio levels, as well as making it clear when you are live and when you are not to avoid any accidental asides, so you can focus all of your attention on the message that you are putting out there.

To be honest, about a minute before I clicked ‘Go Live’ I was suddenly overwhelmed with nerves and started wracking my brain for any reason I could find to put it off until tomorrow, but I couldn’t find anything that wasn’t simply a total weasel. In the end I decided to see it as addressing an audience of friends in the same way as I would if we were on Zoom – which in effect was exactly what it felt like. Most people are quite forgiving of live fluffs, so be good humoured and see it as you making a positive contribution to social media.

3????????????Don’t Be Hypercritical

I’m involved with two podcasts so have made some effort over the past few months to try to address the filler words that populate my everyday speech (‘I suppose’, ‘kind of’, ‘umm’) as well as that millennial question mark that seems to end a lot of my sentences? Looking back at the video afterwards, those fillers were all over the place along with a couple of apparent habits I was unaware of like rolling my eyes at the ceiling and scratching my head with a pencil. Chances are, if you watch the video you probably won’t notice any of those things unless you’re looking for them (remember the invisible gorilla experiment?) and hopefully any personal ticks will be less interesting than the message.

I’m currently working on material for next week’s Little Spiral podcast episode on perfectionism, which is an issue I’ve always had a personal struggle with. Working on blog posts and to some extent podcasts allows room for post-production polish, but with livestreaming there isn’t anywhere to hide. Try to see this as a virtue and a reason to keep it simple, authentic and fun.

To conclude, I’m by no means an expert with one test under my belt, but my experience of having a go means that it’s truly something anyone can do. If you’ve got something interesting to share and you can make peace with the fact that being live opens you up to being imperfect in a public arena, then give it a go. I promise you no one is willing you to fail.