How to prepare for, create, and run a virtual live session using SpotMe Studio

Overview

This article is intended for event planners who are producing a virtual live session using SpotMe Studio as the stream provider.

It provides guidance in the form of a step by step approach, with best practices. You’ll find the following sections:

Introduction part 1 - Familiarize yourself with SpotMe Studio

To start, we highly recommend that you complete the Live Streaming with SpotMe Studio course on the SpotMe Academy. This is a 30-minute course broken down into 10 bite-size lessons that will teach everything you need to know about our live streaming options and how to run smooth live sessions.

• Live stream setup in Backstage
• Streaming with SpotMe Studio and third-parties
• Live interactivity (Polls and Q&A)
• Live interpreting and captioning

To further your knowledge, we also recommend that you watch our Managing a live stream webinar. This is a 45-minute webinar that will cover the following topics:

• Creating a live session
• Interactivity options
• Inviting speakers
• Streaming with RTMPS
• Managing the live stream
• Publishing the replay

Introduction part 2 - Preparing your speakers is key

Preparing your speakers is a crucial part of making your live session a success. In this article we recommend several steps to:

• Prepare your speakers to speak live by scheduling a speaker briefing.
• Collect all the necessary information and materials from them (presentations, poll questions, or any content they wish to share).
• Doing a full rehearsal of the live session with your speakers (based on the created run of show).

You will find more detailed information on preparing your speakers in our Preparing your speakers for virtual live sessions article.

STEP 1 - Create the live session with SpotMe Studio as the provider

For context, remember that when using SpotMe Studio there are three types of live sessions that you can create for your event, depending on how your audience will be attending:

• Creating a virtual live session:
  Attendees will all attend remotely. They use the web app, typically on a desktop or laptop, to watch and interact with a live stream of the session (webinar), which can include integrated Q&A & polls, pre-recorded videos, etc.
  
  
• Creating an in-person live session:
  Attendees will attend in person at a venue. They use the mobile app to interact via Q&A and polls. There is no live stream.
  
  
• Creating a hybrid live session:
  Some attendees will join in person using the mobile app, and others will join virtually using the web app. The hybrid live session offers both the virtual and in-person experience, based on how the attendees choose to attend. The event planner determines which attendees are attending in-person versus virtually using the "Attending" field in the users' profiles in Backstage.

If you are creating a 100% virtual live session with a live stream (or webinar), you need to:

1. Create your live session.
2. Select SpotMe Studio as your streaming provider.
3. Select “virtual” as the session type, and select the engagement, interactivity, and accessibility options that you want to use during the webinar.

Note: The live session name, start date and time, and the associated options can be edited later on, after the live session is created, via the live session settings. However you will not be able to change the streaming provider or the session type once the session is created.

STEP 2 - Adjust the start date and time of the live session

The live session start date and time can be adjusted via the live session settings.

Open the settings using the ⚙️ button in the top left corner, and access the General tab:

Changing the start time of your live session will modify the countdown that your participants will see on the web app while they are waiting for you to go live with your live stream:
More information on accessing and editing the live stream settings

STEP 3 - Upload a background image to your live session stream

When using Studio, you can personalize the live stream by adding a custom background. This can allow you to display your organization or event's identity, your sponsor's logos, or any other visuals you wish to show to your audience during the live session.

To upload a background image, open the settings using the ⚙️ button in the top left corner, and access the Design tab.

The recommended resolution is 1920 x1080 px, with a maximum file size of 5MB.

During the live session, the custom background image is
hidden behind speakers (1) and shared slides (2)
More information on adding a custom background image to the live stream in Studio

STEP 4 - Enable polls / Q&A / clapping and configure how they will work

Open the settings using the ⚙️ button in the top left corner, and access the Interactivity tab.

Here you can enable or disable polls and Q&A in your live sessions. If enabled, there are several options that you can use to choose how the interactivity will work:

• Q&A: Once Q&A is enabled, you can choose what options you'd like to use: whether you want to moderate the incoming Q&A questions, allow attendees to post questions anonymously, enable attendees to be able to upvote the approved Q&A questions, or make your Q&A completely private. More information on using Q&A.
  
  
• Polls: With polls enabled, you can run multiple choice questions or word cloud polls, configure targeting on polls, and select whether or not you want to send poll notifications to your attendees. More information on using multiple choice polls or word cloud polls.
  
  For word cloud polls, you can also adjust the colors for the words that will be displayed in the word cloud:
  

STEP 5 - Send your speakers a rehearsal invitation email with guidance materials

It is very important that your speakers are familiar with the platform and well prepared for the live session.

To this effect, we recommend that you schedule a speaker rehearsal meeting with them, ideally 1 week before the live session takes place.

For this rehearsal, we recommend that your speakers use the same set up that they plan to use for the live session.

The speaker rehearsal invitation email will also provide the necessary reference materials to help your speakers familiarize themselves with the platform and make sure their set-up and location is suitable for the live session, and generally prepare them for the session.

Please refer to our section on sending the speakers a rehearsal invitation email, where you will find a suggested invitation email template with reference materials to share, and even a calendar invite example that you can use.

STEP 6 - Collect the final versions of presentations, poll question, Q&A questions, videos, from your speakers

To best prepare for the live session, you will need to make sure that your speakers have provided the following information, based on what their presentation will include:

• Any slides that they want to present (PDF slides without animations are recommended).
• Any polls (multiple choice or word cloud) that they would wish to run by the audience, and at what moment they should be launched.
• Any Q&A questions that they would like to address.
• Any videos that they would like to play, and indicate at what moment they should be played. Remind them to follow the requirements for playing pre recorded videos.
  (Max size 4 GB, 16:9 resolution, 1280x720p or 1920×1080p, MP4 format, with an audio sample rate of 48kHz)

As you receive this information from your speakers, you can start to add it to the attached run of show template spreadsheet, that you can modify according to your needs and use in order to prepare the speaker rehearsal.

STEP 7 - Create the run of show

At this point you may begin to visualize how the live session will take place. We recommend that you create a run of show document in order to put to paper the order in which things will precisely take place during the live session.

This can include anything that will take place during the live session, but you may for example add:

• What intro video will be played and when?
• Who speaks when?
• What presentation materials (slides, pre recorded videos) will be pushed to screen and when?
• Any transitional slides, or videos used during breaks?
• What polls will take place and when, will there be a cue by the host so that speakers know that a poll is coming?
• When will the Q&A questions be addressed?
• What outro video will be played and when?

The run of show should be as detailed as possible, and will ultimately reflect how the live session will take place. It will be crucial for creating the live session in Studio and performing the full rehearsal with your speakers.

Tip: Remember that, depending on what you are showing on the stage during the live session, you may wish to use Lower thirds in order to introduce a speaker or provide additional context to what the attendees will be seeing on the screen.

Example of a live session structure:

Below is an example of a typical webinar or live session structure. These events should be kept within 30-45 minutes. Exceeding this duration may result in losing your audience's engagement.

• Intro pre-recorded “starting soon” video | 10 minutes before scheduled start.
• Speaker name: Brief introduction of the topic | 2 minutes
• Speaker name: Housekeeping notes for the audience | 2 minutes
• Speaker name: An expansion on the topic | 5 minutes
• Speaker name: A slight pause to ask the audience to engage in a poll | 1 minute
• Speaker name: Expansion on the topic | 5 minutes
• Speaker name: Review of poll results | 2 minutes
• Speaker name: Expansion on the topic | 5 minutes
• Speaker name: Topic wrap-up | 5 minutes
• Speaker name: Q&A session | 10 minutes
• Speaker name: Thank you and closing of the event | 2 minutes
• Outro pre-recorded thank you video | 5 minutes after the event is closed

STEP 8 - Add any lower thirds to the live session

For your virtual or hybrid live sessions using SpotMe Studio, you can use lower thirds in order to provide more information or context about what your audience is seeing in the live session broadcast.

Lower thirds are used as an overlay for speakers, slides, or any other type of on-screen content, and can also be used to facilitate transitions or introducing the next speaker before they come up on the stage.

An example of a lower third for a speaker could include a speaker’s name, role and location, or even their field of expertise or what they are speaking about:

You can create several lower thirds to be used throughout your live session. Only one lower third can be shown at a given time on the broadcast, and you can toggle on/off each lower third based on who/what will be on the stage.

Remember that lower thirds will be displayed in the bottom left corner of the screen, so avoid adding stream background images that include a logo in the same location as the lower third.

More information on creating and using lower thirds during the live session

STEP 9 - Add any poll questions that you plan to ask your audience

Go to the right section of Studio and click on Polls.

This is where you can add any poll questions that you or your speakers would like to ask the audience during the live session.

When crafting poll questions, always consider the goal of the event and the kind of information or feedback you want to gather.

Below are examples of effective and subpar poll questions. These questions would all have up to 6 options for the attendees to choose from. You can model your poll questions based on the good examples provided below:

Of course, we recommend that you collect from your speakers any poll questions they may want to ask the audience, and add them to the run of show so that they can be fully rehearsed.

You can create multiple choice polls with up to 6 options to choose from, and word cloud polls.

More information on running multiple choice polls
More information on running word cloud polls
More information on the notifications sent out during polls
More information about how to manage streaming delays when running polls

STEP 10 - Add any Q&A questions that you want your speakers to address

Navigate to the right section of Studio and click on Q&A.

While your attendees start to enter their Q&A questions via the app, the questions that are approved (if moderation is used) will appear in the Discussions tab for the audience to see.

In Studio, moderators can also directly add Q&A questions that will be asked on behalf of the event team, and that go straight to the Discussion tab, and therefore be immediately visible in the app to the audience:

There are various interesting uses for this:

• Ask a question or raise a topic to be discussed on stage. We recommend that you inform your speakers beforehand that the question will be raised so you do not catch them off-guard.
• Share information in writing during the live session with your audience, including links.
• Answer certain approved questions in writing via the Q&A section instead, of addressing them live on stage, for example to save time.

Often, Q&A sessions will take place at the end of the live session. To note, Q&A session time should be included in the run of show, so that it can be fully rehearsed with the speakers if needed.

While you manage the Q&A (moderate the incoming questions), make sure that the Q&A intake is moderated. This means that you may wish to limit the number of approved questions to ensure that your speakers will have enough time to address them all.

More information on running Q&A during sessions
More information on Q&A upvoting
More information on posting Q&A question on behalf of the event

STEP 11 - Upload all presentation slides to the live session

Navigate to the left section of your Studio and click on Slides.

Here you can upload PDF versions of any slides that need to be screenshared during the live session. These final versions of the slides need to be collected from your speakers and included in the run of show in order to prepare for the speaker rehearsal.

Once they are uploaded, when you go live with the slides you will be able to select which speakers should be allowed to control the slides.

Please note that only PDF slides are supported, which means you cannot have any animations in your slide deck. If you must use animations in your slides, it is possible to screenshare in Studio using PowerPoint.

More information on sharing PDF slides via Studio /or PowerPoints converted to PDF).
More information on sharing PowerPoint slides (only recommended if animations need to be used in the presentation).

STEP 12 - Upload any pre-recorded videos to the live session

Navigate to the left section of your Studio and click on Videos and then on Add videos.

Here, you can add any pre-recorded videos that you or your speakers wish to play before, during, or after the live session. Remember that the videos need to be uploaded in the order in which they will be played during the live session.

Of course, if your speakers wish to provide pre-recorded videos in order to share them as part of their presentation, you will need to get them from them.

There are many ways you can use pre-recorded videos. Some examples are pre-roll (loop) video, sharing any recorded content during a presentation, sharing a recorded presentation if the speaker was unable to join, any break time loop video or sponsor promotion content, a thank you post roll loop video, etc.

Any videos that are uploaded and played as part of the live session or a speaker’s presentation need to be added to the run of show.

To note, for an improved experience, we recommend that you always use a pre-roll holding video that includes music or sound, and that will be played 10 minutes before the go live time so that attendees can see it when they land on the live stream and wait for it to start (it will replace the “countdown”).

We also recommend that you use a similar 10 minute outro video for after the live session ends, to avoid an abrupt ending of the live session.

Videos should always be uploaded well before the live session, and fully tested by verifying that they play well in the app after going live (this can be done at the latest during the rehearsal).

Also, it is very important that you follow the technical notes and file requirements before uploading your videos.

More information on uploading prerecorded videos
Make sure that the videos meet with the requirements before uploading them

STEP 13: Run the rehearsal session with your speakers

1. Open the rehearsal live session, and then click on by clicking on Open room.
   It is recommended to open the room and go through the connectivity test 5 minutes before you expect the speakers to join. More information on the connectivity test
   
   
2. Check that every speaker can join the Studio and that they are in the green room. You’ll find more information on how to invite speakers here, or on how to invite moderators here. When the speakers enter the room, make sure to check that they didn’t skip the connectivity test and that they didn’t have any issues. You can also share this article on How to join Studio with your speakers.
   
   
3. Add the speakers to the stage and talk with them there. Explain to the speakers that they cannot be heard in the Studio by other speakers until they are actually added to the stage. Explain the difference between being in the green room and being on stage. Allow them time to ask again questions they may have at this point
   
   
4. Begin chatting with your speakers via the dedicated speaker chat. Explain that this chat is only used for communications within the studio, especially during the live, and that it is not visible to attendees.
   
   
5. Go through a technical check with each speaker. Ask your speakers to talk for a little while, and check that their connectivity is stable and that you can hear and see them clearly.
   
   
6. Talk your speakers through the run of show and remind them to refer to the best practices that you shared with them as part of the rehearsal invitation in step 5.
   
   
7. Explain to your speakers how Studio works as a whole, including Q&A and polls.
   Remember that there is a delay when live streaming that can affect the interactivity options, and explain it to your speakers. You can also share this article about the different controls available to speakers or moderators.
   
   
8. Click on “Go live” on the top right corner of your screen to show the speakers how the go live will happen on the day of the live session. More information on the host controls are available here.
   
   
9. Join the webinar as an attendee (on the web app), using the Preview button located in the top left corner in Studio. This preview button is accessible to anyone present in the studio/green room, whatever their role. In the preview you will be able to interact with the live session.
   
   
10. Now, as an attendee in the web app, ask some questions via the Q&A panel to demonstrate to the speakers how this works in Studio. More information on running a Q&A session is available here.
    
    
11. Back in Studio as the host, launch the polls, participate in the polls as an attendee, and show the speakers how this works by showing the results and hiding the poll results. More information on running multiple choice polls is available here, and word clouds polls here.
    
    
12. Once you are done, and your speakers are comfortable and have no further questions, click on “End stream” on the top right corner of your live studio to close the rehearsal. The room will automatically close and everyone will be kicked out of the room when you click on “End stream”.

STEP 14 - Recreate, adjust, and finalize your live session

Once you have performed the rehearsal and are aware of any adjustments that need to be made, you will need to recreate the live session.

The rehearsal live session cannot be reused for your actual live session, you therefore need to create a new one following the steps 1 to 4 and 8 to 10 above. This should be quite fast as you have already collected everything you need and are now familiar with the platform.

Recreating the live session will also give you the opportunity to make any adjustments or changes that are needed after the rehearsal.

Important: Make sure that you remind your speakers that the new invitations to join the new live session are not the same ones as those used to join the rehearsal session.

STEP 15 - Send the marching orders and the get ready checklist

Marching orders

Now that everybody is set, make sure that your speakers know when and where they need to show up for the live session.

You can send a simple email reminder. The email reminder can be something like this

"Dear [SPEAKER NAME],

Thank you for your time preparing for our [INSERT MEETING NAME]. I wanted to summarize here all the details you need to know.

On the [MEETING DATE], at [MEETING START TIME - 30 minutes], click on the following link to join the live session.

We will then take a few minutes to make sure everybody’s configuration is still working as it should.

Then we will simply wait until the live session starts, at [MEETING START TIME].

Before you join, please read through the attached checklist that is designed to make sure you are well prepared for the live session.

We look forward to seeing you at the live session. In the meantime, please let me know if you have any questions.

Kindly,"

Get ready checklist

You may wish to provide one final checklist to your speakers to make sure that they are fully ready.

Below is a “Get ready checklist” that you can provide to them along with the marching orders:

Before the live show:

❏ Use the exact same setup as for the speaker briefing (laptop, camera, microphone, internet connection, location).

❏ Have a wired connection and run speed test https://fast.com/ to check your connectivity (minimum 10 Mbps download or upload).

❏ Turn off any VPN and any unused applications and windows on your computer, and switch your computer to "Do not disturb" mode (on Mac or on PC).

❏ Make sure you have provided the latest version of your presentation or any materials you will share.

❏ Close the door and windows, and make sure you will not be disturbed.

❏ Keep a small bottle of water next to you.

❏ Make sure your phone is on silent mode.

❏ Access the live session using the invitation link that was provided (this is not the same link as the rehearsal link).

❏ Check your sound and camera one last time.

STEP 16 - Prepare your virtual live session on the day of the event

With the invitation and reminder you sent out as part of step 12 above, your speakers should be joining the live session at the right time, 30 minutes before the actual start of the live session.

As the host, during the time leading up to live session, we recommend that you:

1. Open your SpotMe Studio at least 30 minutes before going live.
   
   
2. Check that you have all the slides uploaded and run through them one last time as a final check.
   
   
3. Check that you have any videos you would like to play uploaded and ready in the right order, and play them before adjusting the order if needed.
   
   
4. Check that your polls are ready.
   
   
5. Make sure your speakers join the green room of your SpotMe studio at least 15 minutes prior to going live.
   
   
6. Bring every speaker to the stage before going live with your live stream and run a final check with them:
   - Is their sound ok? Is their video ok?
   - Can they switch slides?
   - Do they know what to expect for the Q&A/Polls and overall run of show?
   - Do they know how to chat with the host during the live stream if needed?
   
   
7.  Start your intro holding video before going live. We always recommend having a holding video and start it 10 minutes before going live with the speakers as it will make your audience know that they are in the right place.

Important: Another thing to check for is that your attendees will have access to the live session via the app. This can be via the Home page, an app menu item, or a quick link.

STEP 17 - Start, run, and end the live session

Click on the “Go live” button on the top right corner of the Studio. You will see a 10 second countdown and then you will be live with your intro video or with whoever is on the stage.

Conduct the session according to your prepared content and run of show.

Interact with attendees through Q&A sessions and polling (at least one poll per event). Remember to make sure that the Q&A intake is moderated.

Start the event 10 minutes before the scheduled start time with the placeholder video. Remove the placeholder video and start the event on time.

When the presenters are done with their presentation and you have started playing your outro video (if applicable), you will be able to end the live stream by clicking on the End livestream button on the top right corner of your Studio.

Note that as soon as you end the live stream, the room will close and all the speakers will be kicked out of the room. If you need some time to thank your speakers and debrief with them, make sure to schedule another call for that. Our recommendation is to make them aware of this and thank them using the SpotMe Studio chat functionality.

STEP 18 - Publish the replay for on-demand viewing

Once your live stream has been processed you can publish it from the Studio directly by clicking on the Publish button on the top-right corner of the Studio.

When you publish the recording, the settings for the published recording (VOD) will be displayed.

These VOD settings replace the settings that were previously available before the live session had ended, and that are no longer applicable.

They can be accessed at any time via the cogwheel ⚙️ s button in the top left on Studio for streams that have a "Past" or "Published" status.