The popularity of live streaming continues to rise, including live event streaming. Not only does live streaming an event open the doors for more attendees, but it also can significantly increase the accessibility of your event, among many other benefits.

But what is the best way to broadcast your event live for a large audience? In this guide, we offer tips, tricks, and best practices to live-stream events successfully. We’ll touch on more benefits, tech requirements, event management platforms, and more.

The benefits of live streaming an event

Live streaming events produce more value than just increasing event attendance and accessibility—although those are two major advantages. When you choose to live stream, you’re also creating an opportunity to:

  • Archive the experience in full: Live streams and live videos are often recorded in addition to being broadcast in real time. By live-streaming your event, you’re archiving the experience fully, allowing you to reference it later on, share it with people who couldn’t attend, set it up as an on-demand asset, or extract additional content from it (more on that just below).
  • Extract content from the stream: After an event has concluded, you’ll be able to go back to the live stream footage and extract video clips or information that can be used to produce engaging content for other platforms. For example, you could cut a 30-second video clip from a speaker at the event to share on social media.
  • Reach a wider audience: Live streaming allows you to reach a wider audience of people who wouldn’t have attended your events otherwise.
  • Engage with real-time virtual attendees: Live streaming presents a unique opportunity to create event engagement for virtual and hybrid event attendees and viewers in real-time with features like live chat, polling, and Q&A.

Types of events and event content best suited for live streaming

While you can stream anything that’s happening at an event (and even the entirety of the event itself), some specific activities and sessions provide particular value in terms of attendee engagement. At your next event conference, seminar, or trade show, consider live streaming:

  • Keynote speakers: These individuals are often the reason why many decide to attend events in the first place. Live streaming the keynote speakers gives virtual attendees the opportunity to experience the speech organically and in full, as they would if they were there in person.
  • Q&A sessions: This is perhaps one of the best examples of how valuable live streams are. With live chat and Q&A features, virtual attendees can take part in Q&A sessions in real time.
  • Product launches and demos: Live launches and demos allow even remote users to get in on the action and celebrate the milestone with a community. They also provide ample opportunity to ask questions—and have them answered!

How to live stream an event

Live streaming an event is a bit more complex than pointing a camera and initiating the stream. You need access to the right equipment, live streaming software, streaming platform, and support to ensure the most success.

Technology requirements for live event streaming

Event live stream technology requirements include both hardware and software solutions to ensure high-quality, reliable streaming for your attendees. Here’s a checklist of the most essential components:

  • Multiple cameras: Having more than one camera is essential, especially if you plan to stream multiple activities or sessions at the same time. Broadcasting with multiple cameras and angles creates a more immersive experience for viewers.
  • Microphones: Audio is an integral part of any live stream, and it’s important that it’s high quality so viewers can understand and retain information.
  • A live streaming service or platform: You need somewhere to host your live video for viewers.
  • A strong internet connection: And last but not least, live streaming requires a strong (and we mean strong) internet connection. This reduces the likelihood of technical difficulties, disconnections, or other issues occurring while streaming.

Choosing a live streaming service or platform

When selecting a live streaming platform, ensure it’s compatible with your event management platform. This means that the live video should seamlessly integrate with your chosen service, can be embedded on your event website and app, and that viewers can tune in from any device.

Webex Events offers all of this and more with our Production Studio. Our built-in broadcasting studio is fully customizable with no additional downloads or software required. Easily incorporate branding, connect with your audience, drive actions with surveys or CTAs, and share pre-recorded content ahead of your live stream.

Plus, our live stream services seamlessly integrate with today’s most popular platforms for a headache-free streaming experience. Easily embed your stream on our event app or in our community feature to allow attendees to join straight from the event agenda.

Some of the leading social media platforms Webex Events integrates with include:

Other compatible apps and platforms include:

  • Twitch
  • Vimeo
  • Dailymotion
  • Streamable

 

Event live-streaming tips

Use these tips and live streaming best practices to build anticipation, maximize production quality, and broadcast your stream to as many viewers as possible.

1. Start the stream early with a countdown

Initiating your stream well ahead of the actual event, coupled with a countdown timer, can help build anticipation, act as a reminder, and even allow time for viewers in different time zones to prepare for the event. While platforms like Facebook Live recommend starting between 3 and 10 minutes early to give people time to join, “starting” the stream as much as a few hours in advance can be beneficial.

2. Include a proper conclusion to the live stream

While the main purpose behind live streaming is to broadcast your event to as many people as possible, a stream is still a produced asset and should be treated as such. The overall production quality of a live stream is important, including technical performance and connectivity.

Instead of just fading to black when the live stream is over, produce an outro or an end card that provides more information about your organization or the event.

3. Multistream your event

Multistreaming is exactly what it sounds like—live streaming your event on more than one platform, simultaneously. This can do wonders for your live stream reach, and it gives viewers a little more freedom to choose the platform they like best.

4. Conduct tests before going live

As with any live experience, unplanned things can happen—especially when there’s lots of technology involved. Before you live-stream your event, run some tests to ensure that everything is working as it should in order to mitigate any risks of downtime or complete failure.

Some important elements to test ahead of the event are:

  • Audio and video equipment
  • Streaming platform/service
  • Internet connection

5. Promote your live stream

While an event live stream is often paired with a physical, in-person experience, it should be promoted equally and in its own right.

Live streaming your event is a massive value proposition for attendees. Leverage that by incorporating information about the live stream across your event marketing strategy, as well as creating independent collateral that’s specifically focused on the stream aspect of your event.

An event management platform with live-streaming functionality

Webex Events makes streaming and on-demand video easy. Our platform is a one-stop shop for every event need, including solutions for professional event production, native streaming, simulive, video hosting, and integrations.

Today’s events include in-person and virtual elements and require more than just a social media stream. With an all-in-one event management platform, organizers can pivot between virtual and hybrid events with ease, sync multiple locations with a live audience, and seamlessly combine live and pre-recorded video.

Choosing a robust platform to host and live stream your event eliminates the need for multiple software providers. With everything you need to be successful, you can set your event up for live streaming seamlessly—and all in one place.