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Rolling pre-recorded videos on our livestreams might not be the first thing to think about when we start to livestream our podcast episodes. It doesn’t have to be but having video clips in a livestream can make the show look more professional. It can also add more value to the viewer.
Here’s an example from one of my episodes where I rolled a pre-recorded video from another podcast episode.
Let’s talk about some of the best practices I’ve encountered and learned. I’ve been using this strategy from time to time on my podcast. I don’t use it all the time because it does take some time and sometimes I don’t have a clip that would add any value.
What’s the value add of the pre-recorded video?
The biggest question perhaps: What value is the video adding? Does it fit in the conversation? Is it sharing something that isn’t being shared already?
In the case, of the Seth Godin clip I thought it would be nice to add the voice of a thought leader in the area. Then my current guest – Anne Janzer – and I could have a conversation about it.
Is the amount of work required worth it?
There is a certain amount of work involved to find the clips that we want to use. For example, I have to go to a previous episode, find the clip I want and then trim it out of the original.
Just looking for it can take a good amount of time. When I worked as a video producer in the financial industry we actually logged all our video footage so in that case finding footage would be much easier. For my personal podcast I probably will not go through those kind of lengths as that also takes time.
But, if you’re planning on using pre-recorded video clips in future episodes, consider marking potential candidates down. This could easily be done as you are finalizing publishing episodes.
If you use certain soundbites for audiograms that could also be a strategy to reuse those specific clips.
Upload the pre-recorded videos in the correct order
Many live streaming tools – including Switcher Studio and Restream – allow you to play pre-recorded videos. The trick in my opinion is to upload them in the order that you need to play them in. Also, name them in a way that you can tell what the order is. In Restream you can see what the names are by hovering over the files. Follow the naming convention like this:
- Clip 1
- Clip 2
or
- Segment 1, Clip 1
- Segment 1, Clip 2
Or something similar to that that will help you remember the order. In Restream, certain plans allow the uploading of up to 10 videos. I find this to be the easiest way to run pre-recorded videos. (1). As another option, you can play local videos as well. (2). Just make sure you put them in a folder on your desktop for easy access.
I find the second option a little bit more cumbersome but it does work when I have more than 10 clips to play.
Putting them in the right order is probably the biggest advice I can give. So that means when you update recurring clips you’ll have to upload every clip that is related to that clip again.
Test before going live
This is easy to forget especially if you use clips in more than one episode. But I would still recommend to run the clips in the live streaming platform before going live just so you know it’s working.
I expect more and more brands to do livestreams and the more saturated a market is the more we have to step up the quality. Using pre-recorded videos is another way to give our livestreams that produced and professional vibe.
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