It’s a new year and live streaming video is an excellent way to expand your church’s ministry. If you’ve been charged with your church’s vision to begin streaming video, there is often concern and stress.
You want to make sure you give a great first impression but are a little overwhelmed by the different obstacles that live streaming video presents. Here are 5 tips to help ease the anxiety and teach you how to live stream like a pro!
1. GET A TEST PLAN TOGETHER AND TEST – MULTIPLE TIMES
This cannot be stressed enough. Don’t rush your first public live streaming just because everyone wants to see how it looks. Very often we see churches get their equipment in on Thursday and rush to try to do their first public live stream on Sunday. While this can happen, it is not a good idea to make your very first live streaming event public. Test it many times leading up to your service, and then run a private stream during your first real service with a few beta testers watching for you. This will allow you to see what obstacles may come up during the actual service times.
2. GET DEDICATED INTERNET AND EQUIPMENT
If your computer and equipment are used during the week for other things and then you show up Sunday morning to stream, problems will happen. Your settings get messed with; it creates more stress and more mistakes. That is why we recommend the computer or hardware used to stream become dedicated to the streaming system and not used for other tasks.
The same advice goes for your internet connection. If you have a robust local network, ask an IT person to prioritize the connection used for live streaming so that other traffic at the church does not interfere with it. If you have a small church with a single router, you may want to disable public wifi usage during the live streaming or have your Internet Service Provider bring in a second connection that is only used for streaming video.
3. GET FEEDBACK
Your best source of feedback is your online audience. You want to tailor your streaming video to give off the same vibe as your live service does. Remember that you can’t please everyone, but you can use their feedback ensure you are creating the look and feel that is best for your church. Just make sure you don’t ask for this feedback during the live streaming. If you are using a chat with your live streaming, asking for feedback during the live stream may create a negative situation that interferes with the online worship.
4. GET CREATIVE WITH YOUR CAMERA SHOTS
Don’t be shy about having a variety of different video shots of the speaker and of the congregation. If available, have a camera on the side or in the front that gives them a view of the congregation and cut to it every now and then. The point is to help viewers get the feel of what it is like to be attending. They will thank you when they attend a service.
5. GET VOLUNTEERS INVOLVED
You might be amazed at the people in your congregation who would be willing to help with some aspect of your streaming video ministry if you just ask. From being a church online host (if you have a chat feature on your streaming video platform), to camera people, audio mixing for streaming, lighting assistance and even someone willing to help bring direction to the streaming event. And there are those who might help with editing the recorded video for your on-demand archives. Bringing people into your live streaming ministry can bring fresh ideas and vision. Use wisdom when asking for help but again, ask. You might be pleasantly surprised as to what happens!
StreamingChurch.tv has been serving churches for almost 20 years. We are happy to help answer any questions you have about streaming video with no obligation. Visit StreamingChurch.tv today.