Everything You Wanted to Know About Facebook Live, But Were Afraid to Ask

By Leslie Barrett

Facebook Live is a fairly new and very innovative tool to instantly engage with your Facebook followers in real time. With Facebook Live you can:

Let your fans know about an upcoming event.
Livestream from your event, invite people to join you at a location.
Share an exclusive backstage peek at a TV or radio station before your interview – remind people where you are and to tune in!
Celebrate your release date event/launch party festivities.
Promote a special month/date/holiday that coincides with your book/platform.
Reach new audiences in new ways with tips, teasers, tutorials.

With just your smartphone and a strong connection, you can tell your story, give a demonstration, and promote your book, event or platform. You can do this solo or if you have someone that you want to interview live, this is the way to go!

You can use your computer or your smartphone to go live. If you are using your phone, use a tripod or lean your phone against something steady and make sure the lighting and sound are good! When you are set and ready, click the video camera symbol followed by the word(s) Live or Live Video, you may have to grant access to your microphone and camera before going past this point.

Follow the directions on the screen for who can see your post and where it can be viewed. Then, when you are ready, tap the red circle with the video camera inside and start your live video! Don’t be intimidated. The great news is that you can immediately delete your post if you have spinach in your teeth or a cat creeps into the background.

There are all sorts of fun editing tools and filters to enhance your video, but that will come later. Work on the basics first. Play around with it. After you’ve mastered the basics, google Facebook Live, you’ll find tons of tips, tricks and fun ways to use your newly mastered social media skills. Here are a few things to keep in mind before you get going:

Tell people ahead of time when you are going to broadcast – you’ll want someone to be watching and the more the better, of course! If you are an active client of PR by the Book, let us know when you are planning to go live and we will promote and send our followers your way as well.
Write a compelling description before going live – capture people’s attention and let them know what your broadcast is about. Also, plan your script: your interview, talking points and closing, make it flow, practice it a few times until you are comfortable with being on live camera.
Ask viewers to follow you and to sign up for a notification when you go live. There is a “follow” button on their screen.
Say hello to commenters by name and answer their questions – everyone loves a shoutout! If you are using your phone, you might not be able to see the comments, so let people know ahead of time that you’ll be responding to them later. If you are on your computer, you’ll be able to see who’s watching.
Be creative and go live often. Have fun!