How to Effectively Engage an Audience Through Live Streaming
Effectively Engage an Audience Through Live Streaming
The internet provides businesses with a plethora of new ways, in which they can properly engage a targeted audience, one of which is through live streaming events. According to a recent research, 80 percent of brand audiences would rather watch a video than read a post. While 67 percent of live stream viewers are more compelled to buy a ticket to the event. However, simply pressing the “go live” button isn’t enough. Here are a few tips for how to effectively connect with an audience via live stream during your next conference.
TIP 1 : People will be more engaged if you provide them with value.
According to Adweek, the average length of the top 50 YouTube videos is 2 minutes and 54 seconds, and the average length of a single internet video is 2 minutes and 7 seconds. However, the average live streaming broadcasts are much longer, ranging anywhere from half an hour to a few hours. With that in mind, live stream speakers need to ensure that they are providing the kind of value that will maintain the audience’s attention. The speaker should provide valuable and legitimate insight that they’ve gained through his or her professional experience. For example, if a tech professional is speaking, he or she could provide valuable insight into up-and-coming tech advances, such as IoT or AI.
In order to properly execute this, make sure you’re prepared with information and a plan. This will allow you to focus on sharing helpful tips and teasers and prevent you from losing viewers around the 10-20 minute mark.
TIP 2: Increase engagement by asking for opinions
It’s crucial to keep the audience captivated through physical participation in addition to auditory and visual stimulation. One way to do this is by providing question and answer sessions for active participants, whether they’re present in the audience or if they’re watching online. Allowing viewers to submit questions or contribute to polls online will transform your lecture into a conversation.
Using social media is a great way to execute this. Set up a hashtag for viewers to include with their questions so you can easily find them, and use a monitoring tool like Hootsuite to help organize them. Enlisting an assistant to aid you in reading the questions is always beneficial. This tactic is something that can help you promote your key message while also answering relevant questions to enhance your audience’s comprehension.
TIP 3: Be your authentic self to draw in your audience
As the host or main speaker of an event, you are often under a microscope. This can be incredibly nerve-wracking and can cause most people to act unnaturally. If your presentation seems too rehearsed or doesn’t flow organically, your audience will instantly take notice. You will lose your credibility and, most importantly, their interest.
One presenter who focuses on remaining true to one’s style is Mark Hurd. Hurd, the CEO of Oracle, delivers many keynote speeches in the tech field. Rather than delivering all of these speeches while standing, he sits at a desk like a television host. While his topic is usually more businesslike, Mark remains true to himself and also to the topic of his lecture. For example, during one of his keynote live streams, he read Tweets as celebrities do on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. His tactics honored the serious topic, but also kept true to his authentic personality.
These are just a few tips to help your live stream events reach the masses, but you can modify these ideas to suit your needs as well as the needs of your brand and audience. Being cognizant of your audience is always effective, and if you put their interests first, they are sure to stay engaged.
