The Excitement of Going Live

Starting a live session on the Tin Can App gives me an electrifying feeling, making me want to come back for more.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the differences between making a recording and doing a live session on Tin Can. I’ve created more recordings than live broadcasts and realized that I was feeling more anxious and intimidated about “going live.”

As a longtime radio DJ, I’m super comfortable with being on the air LIVE. So why have I been reluctant to do that on Tin Can? After thinking about it more, I’m realizing that I needed to have a specific goal in mind or purpose for my live session to make it feel more comfortable to me. With my radio show, I know what the expectations are and I have a general schedule of things that I have to do. That’s pretty much how I’ve done my recordings on Tin Can so far, so it seems like a good idea for my first attempts at live sessions too.

Live vs. Recorded Broadcasts

For me, structure or having an idea before I start recording is helpful. But I also feel like there are some differences between LIVE and recorded Tin Can sessions. First of all, live broadcasts are ephemeral since they disappear after the session ends. That’s in contrast to recordings, which stick around on the app and have a larger potential audience since people can listen again and again. This all made me think of live recordings as a bit more spontaneous.

Going Live: Be Spontaneous

With that in mind, I tried out an idea this week on the spur of the moment. I decided to take a walk in my neighborhood in San Francisco while doing a live broadcast on Tin Can. Along the way I narrated some of what I saw, but I also hoped that listeners could hear the sounds of the city. Traffic noises, crosswalk signals, the crunching of dry leaves, squawking crows, and even the “hellos” of a few neighbors made it into my vaguely planned live session. It was fun and a bit less scary than my first live, agenda-less Tin Can broadcast.

I enjoyed the open-ended nature of the live broadcast, as I could record for a longer period of time. But perhaps even more exciting was the live interaction that I had with listeners. While walking and talking, I was getting cheered on by new fans. They asked me questions, left sweet notes and emojis for me, and encouraged me to keep going. I have to admit, it was kind of electrifying and makes me want to do more live sessions.

Going Live is Interactive

I keenly felt the power of a live, interactive broadcast on Tin Can. With that in mind, here are some tips on the types of live sessions that take advantage of its interactivity.

· Do a broadcast that is designed to invite interactivity

· Invite listeners to submit questions, comments, or feedback

· Respond to your listeners in the chat and by using your voice during the broadcast

Ideas for Live, Interactive Broadcasts

· Do a question and answer session on a topic that you know a lot about or are passionate about (for example: life hacks)

· Do a live performance (singing, playing an instrument, etc.) in which you take requests from your listeners

· Do a live improvisation in which you solicit topics from listeners. For example, ask the community to submit words that you utilize in your sketch

· Create a spoken word piece or poem on the fly based on words/topics submitted by listeners on Tin Can

· Write a question of the day and do a live interview with a friend or even a stranger. This “person on the street” broadcast could be silly or serious.

· Do a live broadcast providing commentary during a live event (awards show, sporting event, etc.)

· Do live commentary while watching a movie or TV show. You can invite listeners to tune in to your live session at a specific time and ask them to start the show/movie when you begin. They can also share their thoughts while you watch the movie/show “together” in real time.

What do you think, are there types of broadcasts that work best and are easier to do live? What other ideas do you have for interactive broadcasts?