Hosting for Streaming, Events, Podcasts & Beyond!
Are you looking to do content that requires you to be a “host” — like a livestream, a podcast, a pre-recorded online video or even a live event? For some people, being a host can be fairly nerve-wracking, while others tend to oversimplify the process and not have enough focus on the steps they need to take to be successful hosts.
Hosting takes a lot of pre-planning work (especially if you’re a one-person team!) and it involves just as many technical aspects as performance aspects. Below, we break down core steps from both sides — the technical and performance sides — that will help you become more confident in your hosting abilities and help make the process run much smoother!
THE PERFORMANCE
Know what you’re talking about!
It isn’t just about how you present. It’s also about the actual information you’re presenting. Do the proper research and when you research, make sure to look into a few different resources to verify you’re giving the best information possible. Also, depending on the frequency of your production (weekly, monthly, etc.), review as much in advance as you can, so you can feel comfortable with the info you present (this not only helps with conversation but also with your confidence).
Find your passion.
Either talk about things that you’re passionate about or otherwise, find personal connections to your topics to help bring the passion out of your presentation. The more connected you are to what you’re talking about, the more connected your audience feels, too. Emotions play a huge factor in an audience’s engagement and retention.
Listen, in order to speak.
When you have a guest, hosting becomes more about listening and brevity with your answers and questions. That will give your guest time to speak, and also keep things on track from a time and topic perspective.
Lead by example.
Keep the energy and mood up where they need to be. As a host, you’re steering the ship. It’s up to you to keep things on point for the audience.
Know how to keep the mood or energy of the audience as active as possible based on the content you’re providing. If the energy requires excitement, be excited; but know that it doesn’t mean you have to be at 100%, 100% of the time. Know when you can slow things down slightly and build them back up. Just like with any other performance, it’s important to have a few ‘peaks’ and ‘valleys’ in how you present.
This doesn’t mean you have to go from excited to disappointed every other sentence. You have to find different levels of excitement, happiness, joyfulness and so forth. If it’s not easy for you, look at different descriptor words to get a sense of how to use those as ‘cues’ to help get you into the right mental space.
Have a conversation!
If you have a live audience, don’t speak AT them but WITH them. Experience the event with them and make them feel like a part of the process. Even though there are many traditional elements that are considered theatrical (a stage or some version of a script), the point is to break that 4th wall and include the audience.
Know those around you.
When working with special guests, you should know not only the topic but also background info on your guests. That can help you feel more comfortable around them, and help spark real in-depth conversations.
Practice makes perfect…well, close enough.
Whether you’re doing test recordings, walking around your house or in the shower, go through different speaking scenarios and how you can bring the conversation to life. Also, practice being a recipient of questions. Imagine that someone else is hosting and you’re the guest. What kind of questions would you want? What are ways of asking a question that would make sense to you as a guest? How would you answer or want to answer specific questions?
Not just a Clint Eastwood film.
Learn the good, the bad and the ‘it’s not for you’ from others. Find productions similar to yours and watch, or listen, to the hosts to see what you can gleam from them. Are there good habits you feel you should pick up? Are there habits that won’t fit with your vibe? Are there bad habits being done that you can learn to avoid in your own hosting?
Dress to impress.
If people can see you (and sometimes when they can’t see you), dress the part. Whatever the vibe of the production, dress for that part. You’re the first initial representation of the production that the audience connects with, so make sure you represent it the best you can.
Also, sometimes dressing the part for an audio production can actually assist in your confidence level and overall mood; it’s amazing how an audience can pick up on certain elements from just audio alone!
THE TECHNICAL
The who, what, where, and when.
If you have guests involved, make sure they are as well informed as possible BEFORE the day of production. Let them be aware of technical aspects they may come across or experience during the production (especially if this is their first time doing something like this) and let them know the focus of the show, what the goal of the overall production is and your own views of the topic (if applicable).
If you are hosting guests that will be remote, make sure to let them know if they will be visible to the audience, what should be in their background and what the lighting should be like (if they are in another location). Just like you need to dress to impress, let them know what they should wear, or avoid wearing. The less surprises the guests face, the more at ease they will be and the more enjoyable they will be to watch and/or listen to.
Know the tools of the trade.
Be comfortable in your knowledge of the equipment you’ll be using.
In front of a camera? Know what is in the frame and what’s out of frame. If you have a specific setting as a backdrop, make sure nothing looks like it’s sticking out of your head from the audience POV, or that there is nothing distracting that pulls the attention of the audience away from you and onto something unimportant to the production.
When using mics, know their limits and quirks. Be aware if specific movements create strange sounds or if at certain distances you lose vocal quality. People can forgive lesser quality video but they won’t forgive poor audio!
Are you controlling your lighting? If you’re moving around, know the areas where the light hits you the best so that you don’t go into shadow or become over-exposed. People want to see the best version of you but poor lighting can negatively impact how you’re viewed. Think about all of those action movies where the villain is shrouded in shadow; not exactly the most warm and welcoming visual.
Transitions — know them, learn them, love them.
Transitions help to smoothly move from one topic to the next or to help bring the conversation back on topic. Transitions make it so there are no (or less) awkward moments and keep the energy moving. Think about transitions you can utilize for different productions if something unexpected happens, or to “naturally” move from one topic to the next.
At times it’s just about how quick you are on your feet. There are multiple obstacles you can’t prepare for, so you have to think in the moment, while still somehow being “in the moment.” This can be easy for some, but for everyone else it will just take some time with experience from being in those very situations.
Learn from what you do!
Review recordings of past productions to pick up on strengths and places of improvement. After a production, go through the process in your head to think about how it felt, what seemed to go well and what could have been better.
Break down each episode of your production, as it can help you better understand the flow of your production and where you want to take it in the future.
The bigger picture.
Always keep the overall goals of the production in the back of your mind. This will help keep your actions and conversations on track with the goals of the production and give the audience exactly what they’re looking for.
What do you want your audience to leave thinking and feeling?
What is the point or the “SO WHAT? factor” of the show and how can this be seen in every production that you do? Are you trying to “expose the truth”, “give a fresh new perspective” or “entertain through shared passions.”
There’s a lot more work to hosting than just standing in front of an audience, or microphone, with a smile on your face. Learn the tools of the trade, learn from others, learn from your past experiences and then implement. The more you continue this cycle, the better of a host you’ll become.
Watch some of our livestreams at twitch.tv/MindMineTV and listen to our podcasts at mindmine.podbean.com to get an idea of these items in action!
