5 Things to Prepare Before Your Next All Hands Live Stream
Your business has grown. You might be spread across different offices. You might have workers in remote locations, or a combination of both of those things. Either way, when you have all hands meetings, you’re doing the right thing and live streaming to all your employees, wherever they may be.You’ve put the work into getting all the equipment you need for an all hands live stream, which is amazing. You’re showing your employees that you care about all of them, no matter where they are.
With that in mind, we’d like to offer you some tips that will help you get the most out of your all hands meetings. They’re not complicated. You can implement these tactics simply and easily, and will help you to have a more inclusive, higher quality all hands live stream. Read on!
1. Incorporate some visual aids into your all hands live stream
Part of your planning process should include any visual aids that your CEO will use during the presentation. If you’re asking your graphic designers for images, make sure to give them plenty of warning. There’s nothing designers hate more than last-minute requests. Give them time to give you something great, not something that was just thrown together.
Once you have them, make sure you know where they fit into the presentation, and practice switching from the presenter to the image, so that people can see it properly. You might be able to get away with zooming in on the image you’re displaying on a big screen in your main presentation room, but it’ll look way better if you take the time to show it to those watching remotely the right way.
2. Check your sound levels
There are few things more annoying than a live stream that you can’t hear. You can see everything just fine, but you’ve cranked your audio and you’re starting to feel like you might need a hearing test.
Relax. Your hearing is fine. Your tech just needs to do a better job. That’s right tech person, I’m talking to you.
James Wasem, a guy who has been installing and operating sound systems for more than 20 years, has some tips for ensuring that your live stream audio is correct. He recommends using a separate audio console with an engineer dedicated to that task. He says:
This will ensure that all audio sources are mixed and balanced for one purpose – the live stream.
While this is not always the most feasible or budget-friendly option… it will provide the most consistent quality results.
He also recommends checking the actual stream from time to time to make sure you’re getting the right results. “Confirm that everything is clear and easy to understand,” he goes on to say.
Having a high-quality microphone for each of your presenters is key to getting a good result here. After all, if your audience can’t hear you properly, there’s not much point in streaming live, is there?
3. Make sure your presenters are prepped, and rehearse!
If you’re not prepared for your live stream, then you’re preparing to fail. If your presenters are not fully briefed on what’s required of them, and have not rehearsed what they’re going to say, the results could be disastrous.
There are plenty of resources for learning how to be an effective public speaker. Start by watching Chris Anderson’s secrets to public speaking below.
Great. This is a good start. Next, all the presenters in your live stream need to know how long they have to speak. They should know where they’re supposed to stand. They should know where the camera is. They should know when it’s their turn. They should know what slides are coming up next, if any. And before you start your live stream, make sure to rehearse!
Make sure that your presenters show up well in advance of your presentation. It can take a little bit of wrangling, but if they don’t, it’s pretty tough to get the above things to happen.
Nothing makes a presentation look like amateur hour like a group of presenters who are not prepared. Before you start that live stream, make sure to do a run-through with everyone present.Even if there is only one presenter, this is still valuable. It helps to make the whole operation look more professional.
4. Test the stream before broadcasting live
This may seem like an obvious one, but you’d be surprised how often it’s not done. Before you stream live, test the stream to make sure you’re broadcasting!
You’ll want to check the stream on different browsers, and make sure that you’ve got video, audio, and that any of the tools that you’re using to get instant feedback are working properly.
If you’re using an encoder, make sure that the audio and video are properly synced, and that you’re sending the stream to the platform where people will see the video. That might be your own website, or it might be something like Facebook. Whatever it is, make sure everything is working perfectly before you launch your live stream
5. Do a live stream post-mortem
Like any live event, once it’s over, it’s time to talk about it. Have an honest and open conversation about what went right and what went wrong. Write it down. Share it with your entire team. Get feedback from everyone involved, from the presenters to the viewers.
All of this is what will help you to get better with each new live stream. With a live stream post mortem, you can make sure that every problem that you had can become a positive thing, and that you’ll keep finding ways to get better. Like anything else, you get out of it what you put into it.
Stay dedicated to doing all hands live streams better
It can seem like a lot of work to put together a great all hands live stream, but it is worth it. The higher the quality of your presentation, the more people will get out of it. You want your message to resonate, and it’s not going to do that if you’re cutting corners.
Stay dedicated to getting better with each stream. Establish the things you need to get better. Talk to everyone about what they think could be better, and find out what you’re doing well!
In the end, it’s all about the employees, so give them the best you can with every live stream. It’s worth it.
By the way, you can live stream these meetings from anywhere. Find out how to do it by reading our white paper, “3 Reasons to Leave the Office and Broadcast Your Next Live Event from Anywhere.” Download it for free here!
