Creative Strategies for Live Go beyond Q&A and create a hit live streaming format.

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Why does the idea have to be live?

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Audiences like to watch streams that are

Suspenseful

Interactive

Never before seen

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Shared experience

Dynamic

1. Keep the audience in suspense Play a Game

NoahJ456 made ‘YouTuber Fights’, where two YouTubers wrestle in sumo suits. This worked especially well because it had short rounds, so viewers could easily catch up.

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Hold a Competition

Indie band Moones gave a cash prize for finding a secret London location. The more views the stream got, the further the camera zoomed out. See this article for details.

Embrace the Unknown

Live works best when the creator and audience have the same level of knowledge. The classic unboxing format is even better live, as nobody knows exactly what’s inside.

2. Let the audience interact Vote for an outcome

What’s Inside asked their audience to put #Dab or #Link in the live chat, and whoever got more votes had to jump in the pool with their clothes on.

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Take Suggestions

Beardyman took audience suggestions (both from a live audience and from live chat) for song titles and lyrics as he created an album in an hour.

Speak to the host

UnboxTherapy did a call in show with a ‘burner’ phone. By using the speakerphone setting, no additional equipment was required to set up the stream.

3. Keep it dynamic Get pre-production help

Before his stream Philip DeFranco has a member of his team pick out comments and set up graphics, so he can respond authentically to them live.

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Get production help

Soldier Knows Best streamed from the RNC. He had a friend go around the floor, speak with delegates and ask them to go into the shot to maintain the pace of the stream.

Get a co-host

Hannah, Grace and Mamrie help maintain energy and flow, especially within this longer stream. One can be telling a story to camera, while the others read and select comments to read out.

4. Take your audience where they’ve never been before Inspirational places

Ben Brown took his audience onto a sailing boat in Rio, and got caught in a storm.

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Amazing experiences

LosPolinesios freed turtles on a beach in Mexico.

Exclusive access

Kat McDowell takes her audience through an intimate behind the scenes tour of her recording setup.

5. Create a shared experience for your audience With a video game

eSports, like the League of Legends World Championship keeps viewers on the edge of their seats as much as traditional sports.

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With a video

By watching her YTO documentary and answering questions, Lily added a whole new dimension to the film.

With a performance

Hank Green performed cover songs and let his audience suggest which song he should play next.

Consider a live stream idea that’s similar to what viewers expect from your channel.

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What's Inside added in elements to make their normal VOD format work better live. +

Interactive

Dan first asked viewers to vote on who will have to jump in the pool at the end of the stream.

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Suspense

What could be inside the ball? Who will have to jump in the pool?

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Dynamic

The stream contains two hosts (one big one small) with great natural chemistry, plus camera and comments support.