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Top Live Video Mindset Challenges to Break Through

By Ian Anderson Gray

Confident Live Marketing Podcast

Episode 70

Duration: 52 minutes 22 seconds

Episode Theme: Confidence & Mindset

September 4, 2020

EP 70 - Blog Image

Broadcasting live video and getting in front of the camera can be a struggle. It can be even more of a struggle to do it consistently.

Even once you’ve got your head around the technology involved in going live, how successful you’ll be depends on your mindset and what happens in your brain before and during your live broadcast.

Over the past few years, I've had to deal with many issues. You might be surprised to hear this, but I'm actually a fairly shy person and an introvert. I’ve had to deal with a lot of negative emotions in my live video journey.

Maybe you empathise?

In this episode, I share the top struggles I, and many others, face when it comes to going live, and what you can do about it!

What You’ll Learn

[7:44] What’s new in live streaming
[13:29] About my own struggles with live streaming
[14:50] How overthinking can hold you back
[16:13] How to deal with procrastination
[20:46] What to do when you worry you’ll look and feel stupid on a live stream
[27:24] How to avoid comparison syndrome
[38:23] How not to let worrying what people think get in your way
[39:28] About the danger of perfectionism
[40:43] How not to give in to fear
[42:40] The danger of not thinking strategically
[0:04] How to handle complacency 

News From the World of Live Streaming
Listen at [07:44]

I’m excited by the new developments at Restream. Restream is the complete multi-streaming suite for entrepreneurs, but until quite recently, it was only possible to schedule to go live on YouTube.

However, they’ve just released a new feature, currently in beta, which allows you to create scheduled live videos to LinkedIn Live and Facebook as well as YouTube.

This is really exciting because it means you can promote your live shows ahead of time and, when it comes to Facebook, it also means you can play around with Facebook Messenger bots.

In other news, LinkedIn scheduling is coming. It’s in a closed beta at the moment and I’m excited to be currently testing it!

Essentially LinkedIn scheduling gives you the ability to create a scheduled live post on the platform that you can broadcast live to, which is great because it means you can promote it ahead of time.

I’ve finally taken the plunge and am building a bot with the help of Sasha Liddiard. If you watch my live show on my Facebook page and you leave a comment anywhere on the page, you should receive a message that will give you the option to be notified about my next live show.

If you’d like to learn more about Facebook Messenger Bots, check out episode 53 where I was joined by The Digital Gal, Amanda Robinson.

I’m also going to be moving over to two Confident Live Shows per week.

Normally, the live streams will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays – Tuesdays at 11:30am UK time (6:30am US Eastern) and Thursdays at 4:30pm UK time (11:30am US Eastern).

I’ve got some amazing guests coming up. We’ll be covering everything from bots, live video promotion and engagement to how to create overlays, Facebook ads, selling and much more!

My Own Struggles With Live Streaming
Listen at [13:29]

My first ever experience with live streaming when I was invited onto a Google Hangouts on air show and I was petrified! I wouldn’t have dreamt then that I’d have a regular live streaming show myself.

I’ve faced so many challenges and frustrations along my live streaming journey that I want to take some time in this episode, and in future episodes with guests, to address some of these issues which many live streamers face and help you find ways to overcome them.

Here are the top 10 common mindset issues people struggle with when it comes to live streaming videos. Do you empathise with any of them?

#1 The Danger of Overthinking
Listen at [14:50]

I’ve definitely been guilty of overthinking things and of making things more complicated than they need to be.

Live video can definitely be complicated. Even as I streamed this show, I was multistreaming, recording the audio for the podcast, there were multiple lights and cameras… there’s lots to think about. But I didn’t start with all of that. I started with a much more simple set up.

If you catch yourself overthinking, a tip is to think about what your main goal is with live video. Try to ignore everything else and remember this one main goal and stay focused on that.

#2 The Curse of the Procrastination Monkey
Listen at [16:13]

Another struggle I’ve had is with procrastination. We’re all guilty of putting things off, especially things we’re nervous about.

It makes sense that if we’re feeling daunted about something, our brains try to keep us busy thinking about and doing other things.

But actually, scheduling your live videos is the perfect antidote to procrastination.

If you’ve scheduled a live video, it holds you accountable and you’re much more likely to feel the fear and do it anyway.

If you’re not scheduling your live video, why not email your list or send social media messages to people telling people you’re going live at a certain time?

#3 Worrying About How You Look and Feel
Listen at [20:46]

I moved around a lot as a child. I was born in England and then moved to Scotland where I got bullied for having an English accent. I acquired a Scottish accent (pretty quickly!) and then moved back to England and got bullied for that.

I spent a lot of my 20s and 30s worrying a lot about what people thought of me and judging me.

One thing I’ve learned though is that messing up or stumbling over words can actually be a good thing. It’s those idiosyncrasies and little mistakes that make you you. It makes your live videos real and raw and it makes it easier for people to relate to you.

Lots of people struggle listening back to, or watching themselves, back and this is totally normal.

A great tip from Christine Tremoulet is to look back at a video or photo of yourself with a friend as you’ll be less likely to be judgemental of yourself if you’re with someone else. You can listen to episode 36 where she shows you How to Love the Way you Look on Live Video!

As you watch/listen to yourself, write down three positive things first followed by three things you can improve upon – but make sure they’re constructive.

Be kinder to yourself!

#6 Trying to Reach an Unattainable Goal of Perfectionism
Listen at [39:28]

I’ve definitely been guilty of this in the past.

But the point comes where you realise you’ll never achieve perfection. In fact I’d argue that by the time you do achieve perfection it might be time to give up – it’ll be boring!

Instead, try to take things live show by show look at improving things as you go.

I have a live video diary and in it, I make a note of what went well and what I could improve on. I keep an eye on my analytics and instead of focusing on perfection I look at getting better and better, show by show.

#7 Giving in to Fear!
Listen at [40:43]

Fear can be a good thing – as long as you transfer it into energy in front of the camera.

There’s a fine line between that feeling of butterflies in your tummy and fear, so try and turn your jitters into excitement.

The problem comes when fear gets out of control.

Your fear may stem from some of the things we’ve discussed above such as being afraid of what people think about you.

Try booking yourself a worry time later that day. More than likely, your anxiety will have gone by that point anyway, but knowing that you have that time set aside may just help settle your mind in the time leading up to the live.

For more on this, have a listen of episode 32, where I was joined by Dr Nick Lazaris who shared How to Overcome the Anxiety of Live Video.

#8 Not Thinking Strategically
Listen at [42:40]

If I’m really honest, when I first started going live, much of it was because I was interested in the technology.

But there came a point when I needed to think a bit more strategically. Now my live shows are based around my business goals.

It actually makes things much easier because there’s a plan behind every show I do. I know why I’m going live, there’s a reason. I now know I can go live to grow my audience, expand my reach and sell products but that I can enjoy it too!

I recommend setting up a live video show plan to go through what your show’s about, who it’s aimed at, the themes of the show and what you’re aiming to get out of it.

When you’re feeling low or you find yourself procrastinating, this will help you keep on track.

#9 The Curse of Complacency
Listen at [44:46]

Complacency can kick in after a few live shows when things are going really well. Often this means that you start to forget your checklist, neglect your plan and just go live anyway.

The danger is though that you lose track of what you’re supposed to be doing and it’s often when things start going wrong.

Remember the checklist and your plan – they should be your shining light!

#10 Battling a Negative Self Image

I’ve definitely battled with a negative self image over the years. I was really down on myself and I had imposter syndrome which stopped me from going live. I’d urge you to work on this so it doesn’t get in the way of your live streaming.

Try writing down and focusing on your strengths. Make a list of the truths about yourself and read it regularly. It will help to talk with your friends and get some input from them too.

Consider hiring a life coach too to work through some of these things and make sure that a negative self image doesn’t hold you back.

Resources

Brought to you by Restream & Content10X

Restream

Restream is the complete multi-streaming suite for entrepreneurs.

With Restream you can stream to multiple platforms all at the same time. They have a plethora of destinations including:

  • LinkedIn Live
  • Facebook Live
  • YouTube Live
  • Twitch
  • Periscope and so much more

You can stream from another tool to Restream and Restream will take care of the multi-streaming for you really easily. Or you can broadcast directly from Restream to your platform of choice.

Restream also has chat, analytics and a scheduler. With the chat service you can view and engage with your audience from all the destinations you stream to.

I’ve been really blown away by the Analytics section – this shows your stream metrics – now many viewers, watched minutes, new followers and more.
And finally, the scheduler allows you to broadcast pre-recorded video live.

To sign up and have a play, visit iag.me/restream

Content10X


Do you want to find ways to create more content?

You won’t after you meet the team at Content 10x!

My friends at Content 10x are a specialist content repurposing agency, they can take one live-stream, or a blog post, podcast, or video, and explode it into a plethora of new platform-specific, on-brand content..

If they don’t do all of this for you via their service, they teach you how with their podcast, blog, book and toolkit!

They’re smart, responsive, creative, and effective. If you want to take the stress out of content marketing, Content 10x are the people you want to go to.

Visit www.content10x.com to find out more.

 

Watch Episode 70

Ian Anderson Gray

Ian is the founder of the Confident Live Marketing Academy and is the host of the Confident Live Marketing Podcast. He helps entrepreneurs to level up their impact, authority and profits by using live video confidently. He's founder of Seriously Social - a blog focused on live video and social media tools. He’s an international speaker, trainer, teacher and consultant. He has a passion for making the techno-babble of live video and social media marketing easy to understand. As well as being a geek, husband, and dad to two kids, Ian is also a professional singer and lives near Manchester in the UK.