Why Live streaming Is Better than Recorded Videos?

Wondering why live streaming is better than recorded videos?

You’d think I am being ridiculous given that most people think that live streaming is hard, right? 

It might indeed sound hard(and maybe it is hard). Get live streaming right (and just get going), and that’s when the benefits become more obvious for all of us (Trust me, I am still in the “live streaming is hard” phase). 

Once you get the hang of live streaming — where you choose the right software to do live streams, know what you are going to do live streaming on, and the other nuts and bolts of the trade — it has more benefits than your regular videos.

Plus, it’s much less work too. 

Here’s why live streaming is better than recorded videos: 

Live streaming is quicker 

You need a plan, some amount of preparation, and a healthy dose of confidence for live streaming.

Granted. 

You need those exact same ingredients for a regular video as well. The trouble with regular videos is that our human brains kick into “perfection mode” — so we’ll get right down to editing videos, retaking videos (and then editing those videos again), and so on. 

Can you imagine just how much time and effort that takes? 

With live streams, there’s little scope of editing anything (even though there’s live editing available — most of us don’t need to live stream Adele’s or Rihanna’s live events, do we?)

As a result, if you intend to keep a live stream on for 15 minutes, that’s exactly how long it’d take you to do live streams. 

Think about that. Ok? 

Read:

How to Live Stream For Your Business [& The Big Why]

Live Streams Can be Spontaneous 

Remember that I mentioned that you’d need to plan your content, delivery, time, date, how you plan to engage, and all of these nuts and bolts whether you do live streams or videos? 

That’s one way of doing live streams. But there’s another way (and much beloved way at that). 

Make your live streams spontaneous. No thoughts. No thinking. No musing. 

Just go live. 

If you make your live streams spontaneous, you achieve a few things: you’d spent even less time trying to do live streams, you’d not have to think or plan so much, and you’d do this even faster. 

Plus, your audience will love you for the spontaneity.

It’s this bit that truly why live streaming is better than recorded videos. Think about it.

Read:

How to use LinkedIn Live [+ 8 Hot Ideas]

The magic is in the engagement 

One of the winning traits of the live streaming format is that’s “live” — which means you can engage with your audiences. Call out names, mention people, thank them for viewing, and more. 

Or, you can pull them into conversations (while you do live streams), highlight comments, use lower-thirds for additional information or call-to-actions, and more. 

This is precisely why people love live streams and this is also the reason behind why live streams are so popular. 

Read:

Best Live Streaming Apps You Can Get Your Hands On

Simple Tips for Live Streaming (& Grow Like a Champ)

Live Streams Also Get The Benefits Videos Get 

Live streaming — although spontaneous and “live” — is still a variant of the video format. All the benefits of video accrue to live streams as well.

For instance, your live streams will stay on as pre-recorded videos on any of the social networks you live stream on. Live stream on YouTube, and it stays on your channel (for instance).

Do a live stream session on LinkedIn (and Pin it to the top of your LinkedIn profile or feature it) and it’ll stay on as well. 

Further, you can edit and repurpose live streams just the way you’d edit and repurpose videos. Pull out parts of the live stream to use as social videos.

Cut out juicy parts of the live stream and turn it into a course (and edit likewise, if you want to). 

Nice, right? 

If you are looking to do live streams, I highly recommend getting a free account with Restream — you get access to backgrounds, overlays, ability to add video clips, and more.

You also get advanced features such as auto-captioning for live streams (for certain paid plans and for certain social networks or live stream destinations), audio track management, and more. 

Do you live stream? Do you have other thoughts on why live streaming is better than recorded videos?

Connect with me on LinkedIn, on my brand page, or on Twitter and invite me over when you go live. If not, what stops you from doing live streams? Share your thoughts.