10 Things You Should NEVER Do on Live Video

I’ll never forget the email she sent.

It was just a few weeks after I had gotten brave and started doing live video.

Every time I went live, it still made me feel queasy and nervous. But I realized that I got a little more confident each day.

So then, when I got this email, I have to admit I was kind of taken off guard.

Her Comment Really Stung

It was from another woman who had been doing live video longer than me. I didn’t know her well, but we had exchanged a few emails about live video.

I think it was her third email to me, when she bluntly said, “You need to hold your camera at a different angle. It’s down way too low and it makes it look like you’re looking down at everyone when you’re on live video.”

You guys. I admit that her comment stung a little.

I mean, here I was getting all brave and stepping out of my comfort zone! Didn’t she know how hard that was for me??

I’m So Grateful She Made That Comment

But I look back and am so grateful that she was brave enough to say that to me. Because it caused me to step back and start analyzing ways that I could improve when I got on live video.

Up to that point, I was just celebrating the fact that I had, you know, gone live on camera… which was kind of a mammoth feat for painfully camera shy me.

After reading her email, though, I was motivated to begin critiquing myself and improving my on-camera presence.

10 Things You Should Never Do on Live Video

As a result, here are 10 things I’ve learned you should never do on live video:

1. Never, ever, ever look down on the camera. Always have the camera at eye-level or a little above eye level. Otherwise, it gives you a bad angle and makes it look like you are talking down to people.

2. Never wait for people to come on your live video before starting in with your content. Most people will be watching the replay! If you don’t engage them right away, they won’t stick around.

3. Never go live when you are expecting a phone call from your husband. If he’s anything like my husband, he’ll call and it will interrupt your live video and might even make your video go offline. Then, because you didn’t answer, he’ll call again and interrupt things again. This may happen 4-5 times! Don’t ask me how I know! 😉

4. Never start your video without knowing what you’re going to talk about. Otherwise, you’ll get on and ramble and ramble and likely just cause people to click away!

5. Never go live without telling your family first. I’ve learned — the hard way — to always inform my entire family before I go live. This prevents many embarrassing situations!

6. Never turn the camera sideways while you’re on live video. The camera will not rotate… instead, your audience will be trying to view your video sideways. And yes, I’ve accidentally done this multiple times! 🙂

7. Never engage with trolls. Just don’t. Either block them or pretend that they aren’t there. The more you call attention to them, the more they will try to get attention.

8. Never unbox a mattress on live video. Well, at least not the kind that come all rolled up. Or at least don’t do it for the first time ever on live video. Oh yes, I did this not realizing that the mattress would pop open like a can of biscuits and knock me completely over and out of the video!

9. Never do a live video without being able to check the camera view first. I’ve done this twice and it was a disaster both times. Once, I had one of my young children hold the camera and I realized that I was way too far away and it was a super weird angle. The other time, I had the camera flipped around to get a better video view for a recipe I was making… only I didn’t realize that my head was chopped off the entire video!!

10. Never stop challenging yourself to become better at what you do. There is always room for improvement!

What would you add to my list? Leave a comment and let us know!