How to Livestream an Event: Expert Tips from BR Studio
Done well, a livestream is one of the most powerful tools in your communications mix.
It creates a sense of immediacy and belonging that pre-recorded content simply can’t replicate, and it gives your audience a reason to show up, engage, and keep coming back.
Using Livestream to Connect With Audiences
Not every message belongs in a livestream, but some messages are made for it. Here’s where the format really earns its place:
Complex topics: Pension reform, regulatory changes, scientific innovation, long-term strategy. For many organisations, the scope and complexity of their work and the subjects their audiences care about aren’t something that can be summed up in a snappy message. Livestreaming creates space for nuance, explanation and storytelling that shorter formats can’t accommodate, providing engaged audiences with real depth and interaction.
Recurring content: Regular livestreams give your most engaged audiences – whether they are members, stakeholders, employees or investors – a place to gather and build community. It keeps them up to date and informed, and offers a space where they can “deep dive” into the subjects that matter to them.
Exclusive access: Early access to news, expert insight or direct commentary provides real value to viewers, and demonstrates their importance to your organisation. This kind of engagement can turn audiences into advocates, fostering deep connections and swaying behaviours.
How to Livestream an Event: Eight Things to Get Right
- Start with a reason to be live
Don’t livestream for the sake of it. The most successful sessions are built around something timely, reactive or high-value — a moment where audiences feel they need to tune in live rather than catch up later.
- Design for interaction, not passive viewing
The biggest advantage of livestreaming is real-time engagement. Build in Q&As, polls and audience prompts. These gather live insights, increase dwell time and make viewers feel part of the conversation, not just spectators.
- Give audiences a reason to show up live
There can be good reasons for uploading the full event once the session has completed for wider viewership, but balance this with a sense of exclusivity to encourage people to show up for the event itself. It may be more effective, for example, to share short teaser clips after the event that highlight the best moments. You can also use snippets to promote the next session and position live attendance as the best way to get full value.
- Choose the right host
A strong host keeps control of timings and flow while staying confident and natural. Encourage them to embrace the live nature of the session. Minor slip-ups make it feel authentic and human, whereas a presentation that’s over-polished might come across as cold or corporate. Treat small mistakes, asides and natural conversational flow as a feature rather than a flaw.
- Choose the right platform for your goal
LinkedIn and social platforms offer broader reach, but less control over your data. Zoom and webinar platforms give you a smaller, more controlled audience with better tracking and insights. The right choice depends on whether your priority is reach or data.
- Structure the content like a show
Long, flat panel discussions lose audiences quickly. Break your session into chapters or segments, introduce varied formats (such as interviews, panels, quick-fire questions) and keep the energy high throughout.
- Consider a live audience
Bringing people into the room creates a TV show feel, adds natural reactions and atmosphere, enables roaming mics and live questions, and enhances the experience for both in-person and remote viewers.
- Don’t overlook connectivity
A strong, stable connection underpins everything. Ethernet is always the preferred option; back it up with strong, uninterrupted Wi-Fi, and consider bonded data solutions as a further fallback. Always conduct a technical recce in advance.
Case study: Nedbank’s Private Wealth Mid-Year Report
When Nedbank wanted to bring their mid-year market update to life for private wealth clients, they needed more than a straightforward video call. Their audience – high-net-worth clients who expect a premium experience – deserved a broadcast-quality production that matched the calibre of the insight being shared.
BR Studio delivered a full-service production, handling everything from multi-location filming to venue and host management, with Victoria Valentine leading proceedings on the day. Here’s what we provided:
- 2–3 camera setup per section for a premium broadcast-style feel
- Filming approach
- Multi-location filming with dynamic segments throughout the venue
- Branding
- Integrated Nedbank branding across stings, transitions and namestraps
- Production
- Full venue and host management on the day
“Our first show, all done! Thank you and the team for all your hard work on ensuring it was a success. It was really great working with you guys – the whole team were fab.”
Executive Head of Client Innovation & Marketing, Nedbank
