Simple best practices that you can make use of to ensure your livestream is as slick as possible.
Even though livestreaming is a medium that allows us to authentically engage with our customers, we still want to put our best foot forward and appear as slick and professional as possible.
A big part of hosting a successful livestream event is of course the content you’ll be sharing, but it also comes down to making sure our tech components are firing on all cylinders. Other than video quality, it’s imperative we pay attention to the quality of audio during our livestream. It’s 50% of the livestream after all!
There are a few simple best practices that you can make use of to ensure your livestream sound goes off without a hitch.
1 - Microphone
The internal mic on your computer or phone aren’t the best in terms of delivering high quality audio. However, we understand that if you’re strapped for cash or perhaps just starting out, your phone or computer and its built-in mic will have to do. So how can we still get the best out of it?
When livestreaming it’s important to remember to bring your voice front and centre, cancelling out as much background noise as possible. The closer you are to the mic, the better the sound quality will be.
Top Tip: Nowadays, with livestreaming becoming more and more popular, you can get surprisingly good quality microphones at an affordable price tag. If you find yourself using livestreaming more frequently for your business, it could be beneficial to look at investing in a small mic. An inexpensive mic that can be attached to your lapel will make a huge difference to the overall audio quality of your livestream.
2 - Reduce Background Noise
Good acoustics are so important when it comes to creating quality audio for your livestream. The enemy of good acoustics is swathes of empty space with hard surfaces. Here, sound is left to bounce off these surfaces, creating reverb (and chaos!) in your livestream.
The best (and easiest) solution is to look at decreasing the size of the room you’ll be livestreaming in. If the space is too big, the sound will bounce around too much creating loads of reverb and confusion in your audio stream. Also, if you will be livestreaming in a space that is susceptible to noise (think lawnmowers, loud coffee machines, crying babies) try and make sure you schedule your livestream when these sorts of background noises will be less apparent.
Top Tip: For a quick DIY fix, you can soundproof your space to reduce echoing by covering your walls and tables with blankets.
The number one rule for excellent livestreaming is a good quality internet connection. As soon as this connection dips in quality, your video and sound will deteriorate which is a major no-no when it comes to livestreaming. People simply don’t have the patience to stick around if your connection is patchy or unstable.
*Please see a short guide below this article for technical specs.
Top Tip: Make sure you close any unnecessary programs running in your computer or phone’s background before going live. These can take up bandwidth or resources that can affect the system’s performance and decrease your overall livestreaming quality.
4 - Test Your Sound on Multiple Devices
We can spend so much time setting up our livestream and go down a rabbit hole when it comes to our tech setups that we sometimes forget about how it will be received by those tuning in. This is a big mistake! Always make sure you leave time in your preparations to test things like your livestream sound on multiple devices.
It would be a huge pity if you made a big song and dance about your livestream event, had hordes of people tune in… and they can’t hear a single word you’re saying.
Take time to test how your stream sounds on multiple devices such as computers, smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs before going live. Doing so can help you catch drops in volume, or distorted sound. Testing your audio settings beforehand lets you get everything in order before ‘game day’.
Final Thoughts
It’s so important to remember that many of your livestream “viewers” aren’t actually watching your live broadcast. Instead, they’re listening to it. So, when the sound of your livestream isn’t up to par, they may not have the patience to stick around.
Bad, echoing sound can be easily avoided! By following these simple best practices you’ll be on your way to livestreaming success in no time.
Keep an eye on the blog in coming weeks and months for more of our top tips and tricks to get you selling and livestreaming like a pro.
A minimum of 10MB upload speed is required. A upload speed of 20MB+ is recommended.
If on a mobile device, a minimum of 3G is required, however 4G/5G would yeild better results. Your mileage may vary when streaming from a mobile network as they can be unpredictable at the best of times.
To make sure you have a minimum of 10MB upload speed, please conduct a speed test on https://www.speedtest.net/
Apple iPhone
Minimum supported: iPhone 7Recommended: iPhone 8 or later.
Android
Operating System: Android 10Resolution: 720 x 1600 pixelsRAM: 4GB
Windows
DirectX 10.1 compatible GPUWindows 10 or laterMinimum of 4GB system memory.Webcam or External CameraSound recording capability (microphone)
macOS
Intel or Apple Silicon CPUMinimum of 4GB system memoryGoogle ChromeWebcam or External CameraSound recording capability (microphone)
