Launch Your Live Show!

A few important considerations before we dig into the many parts of a good technical setup.

You can download my short list of all my favorite gear pieces from this page! I've broken these down into 3 different budget zones. In the next few videos I go in depth for why I like each piece of equipment. But this reference sheet with links should be helpful!

A good live stream is only as good as its audio. You can start with any pair of headphones with a mic, but soon you'll want to consider a more full sounding microphone.

Video is one of those places where you *can* sink a lot of money. Luckily there are some great options available that won't cost you an arm and a leg.

Something that is often overlooked is the lighting you use on your live shows. While sunlight is cheap, it is a bit difficult to control. There are a few options that will make sure you show up looking your best.

You can't have a live show without a solid connection to the Internet. While Cellular data works for phone streaming, we'll need a bit more bandwidth for streaming from a laptop.

There are a lot of platform options available for streaming. Some are software based, some are browser based. Find out which one will be the best for your show.

OBS is a staple among streamers. It's a versatile software with options for refining your streaming settings and scenes for matching your brand.

Ecamm is a Mac-only software that allows for guests, interactive widgets and more.

Streamyard is a great choice as a browser-based encoder that allows for guests and interactive graphics.

Riverside.fm is a browser based streaming service that does isolated recordings for hosts and guests.

Simulcasting is something that allows you to create a single show and send it to multiple places like Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

When you move on to producing live shows with multiple cameras you may want to consider these hardware options.

There are multiple ways to set up your visuals once you're up and running with your show. Using different scenes and branding can improve your show even more.

To keep your show moving forward you can choose to use a variety of scenes to engage and move your show forward.

Learn how to add branding elements and colors to your show and what graphical elements are needed for a complete graphics package.

Let's focus on the show itself. What can you do to format your show for success. What repeatable structure can you build to help live audience engagement and still create content that is able to be repurposed?

This simple format will help you plan better shows and create show notes quicker and easier than ever.
Don't forget to download this template ➡️ or click the link below ⤵️ to add it to your own Google Drive!

A Google Sheet Template

Use this for Show Planning/Show Notes. Add this template file to your Google drive, or download the spreadsheet format below and use it wherever you'd like. This template has 2 sheets, one is for you to copy and use over and over again, the other sheet is an example show that you can use for reference.

Personally, I love using this as a Google Sheets file online, because I can easily share and collaborate with show guests or guest hosts as we plan the show rundown together.

After you stop your live show, you're not quite finished! You can still do a few things that will help your show grow, and your community stay engaged. You also now have a new source for even more awesome social media content! Interview clips, great moments, important updates, etc... it's all freshly created. Now to repurpose it for your broader audience!

This is a collection of a few of my favorite things. Some simple things and some tech toys I really enjoy that make my streaming better.