Fear of Live Streaming: And the Psychological Mechanisms Behind It

What is the actual fear behind Live Streaming on your favorite social media platform?

Is it fear of the tech?   Is it the fear of judgement?   Is it fear of imposter syndrome?   These are all valid, but I believe the real fear is… Live Streaming removes the “Edit Button” and that loss of control, a safety net if you will, that is what actually lies beneath all the other fears.

There are five specific psychological mechanisms behind that fear and five ways to combat each of them uniquely…

#1 No buffer between your thoughts and your speech.

In pre-recorded content, there is a distinct editing gap between what you think and what your audience sees in the final product.   Live Streaming shrinks that “Editing Gap” to nearly zero and the fear of the exposure of your unfiltered thinking process is real and palpable.

Solution… Pre-build a “Thinking Scaffold”, a framework to filter each question or topic through, not a script.   A decision tree if you will, of 3 to 5 potential avenues you could take a particular question or topic.   This introduces a pre-determined buffer without removing the spontaneity of the Live Stream.

A practical action to take before every Live Stream is write down 5 questions that you are most afraid of being asked and write out a few potential directions you could take to answer them depending on context.

#2 The temporary feeling of Live Streaming and the potential permanent consequences.

There is a specific anxiety in knowing that while a Live Stream feels fleeting in the moment it is definitely being recorded, clipped and potentially replayed forever.   This foreknowledge of this mismatch is disorienting in a way a pre-recorded and fully edited piece of content never is.

Solution… Explicitly reframe every Live Stream as “This is Live to Recording”.

Go into every Live Stream with the same care and intent you give to a fully edited piece of content.  Treat every Live Stream with the respect and forethought of “Would I be fine with any clip of this Live Stream showing up in a client pitch for a brand deal a year from now?” 

#3 Trolls, hostile comments and off topic questions.

There are a number of ways to handle all three of these, but there are a few specific things you can do right at the beginning to keep your Live Stream in check and on track.

A) Have a “Live Stream Code of Conduct”, call out how YOU as the Live Streamer expect your viewers in the chat to conduct themselves.   Keep it simple such as no spamming the chat, keep the chat “G” rated as you do not know the ages of anyone watching the replays etc…

B) Have a “Moderator” in the chat that can act on the “Bad Actors” on your behalf so you can stay focused on the Live Stream.

These will help you keep control and give you a measure of peace while Live Streaming.

#4 Tech failure while Live.

Most of us only prepare in a preventative way concerning all the tech involved in Live Streaming, speed tests, mic checks, camera checks etc.   But what most are truly afraid of is not knowing what to do when the tech actually fails… and IT WILL… and making you look less than professional.

Solution… Rehearse what to do when a specific piece of tech fails mid stream.   Have a specific order of action to take, no matter what the piece of tech is and practice it as well as having it written down to reference.

As an example in a different field, I am a Part 61 Private Pilot.   I have hundreds of flight hours, many of them are long cross country flights over the open deserts of the Southwest United States.   One of the main things that I constantly practice in my head while I am flying is… Where am I going to put this aircraft down if the engine quits right now?   

I am very thankful I have always been diligent about this practice as it came in handy one day while flying with a friend in his aircraft, we had a partial engine failure.   We were able to get it back to the airport in an expedited fashion as the engine completely quit right after landing.

#5 Going Live cold and having a form of stage fright.

Since there is no do overs when going Live, hitting the camera cold can be the biggest obstacle to a content creator.   But there are a few remedies to this…

Solution…

#1 Perform your first few minutes of your Live Stream for a recording for you to review later.   This acts as a warmup if you will.   Give it 5 minutes or so.   Doing this out loud and recording it will help clear the butterflies.

#2 Have a recurring routine that you follow, like a pregame ritual in sports, just before every Live Stream, purely for YOU.

I want you to understand the underlying strategy here is not to eliminate the risks and fears, but to mitigate them with a structured mindset being well prepared, rehearsed and warmed up to give your audience your best self while Live.   

This process will act as your sudo edit phase that Live Streaming inherently does not have.

There you have it, I hope this gives you some encouragement to get out there and Go Live to your audience.

If you are just starting down the Live Streaming/Podcast path, 

Let's talk and see if I can help you navigate through it all.

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