Using Facebook live for webinars

Imagine you plan a study group but only two people are able to make it on the night. All the others struggle to find babysitting, or need to supervise homework. Facebook Live allows you to broadcast your chat/lecture/study easily. Your audience can be literally ANYWHERE and join in. The broadcast can also be used after the event as a video, and even more people can join the conversation! John Roberto loves Facebook Live! And so do we! Check out these short and accessible tutorials and you’ll be broadcasting in no time!

1. Start here

This is the first port of call for those who have never used Facebook live before! Dusty Porter gives the basics about which buttons to push and how to get started (invaluable, right!!)

I’d use this video in conjunction with the next one though, as Justin Brown has some EXCELLENT tips about how to make the whole experience satisfying and successful every time. 

2. And then here

This Aussie guy gives fantastic advice about how to ensure a successful Facebook Live session, from how to set up your camera, all the way to using a great app to automatically alert your contacts that you are up and running! He gives tips about structuring your content, with advice like: finish with a call to action, whether that’s tuning into the next live session, joining you for a worship service, or a community event, or even just contributing to a discussion about the content or giving feedback on the next topic!

3. Getting more serious here...

This video explains how to plan and set up your camera, and gives you great ideas to make your content suit this live broadcast media.  For example, if you ask questions throughout your presentation, your live viewers can send messages in response, and all viewers get to participate! There are clues about how to send “Wow faces” too!! Its 20 minutes long, the first 15 minutes are extremely useful. The last 5 minutes are for the more “business” focussed!

This one includes focussed tips on planning the content, for example, they advise starting on time everytime so that loyal viewers don’t get frustrated with lag time. Remember that Facebook Live can be viewed later for those who miss the original! Keep the faith with those who turn up on time and respect that they have made the effort to join you live.

You can see who joins you, but it’s a great idea to name spec ific people only at the beginning and the end, as this allows the content part of your presentation to be viewed as a whole, without much mucking around!