Are You Having Issues With Facebook Live and Guests?
As Facebook is a social media platform used daily by more than a billion people, there is always a chance things go wrong when you use this busy platform. When you are making posts to your profile or page, it is not always critical that things get posted right away, tags work etc., because, of course, you can edit your posts when needed.
But not so with Facebook Live!
The operative word here is 'live'. Add in the option to invite a guest to join your Facebook Live broadcast and you add new issues and challenges.
With Facebook Live you are put 'on the spot', live, and you need to be able to think on your feet and be a good problem solver if you want your Facebook Live issues to disappear mid-broadcast.
When you have a guest on your Facebook Live, you are not only responsible for your audience, but also for your guests' happiness and satisfaction with the overall experience.
I've been doing live broadcasts since I've had the ability to and I've had a few issues along the way. Today I will share 3 issues I've had while hosting guests on my broadcasts and then give you several resolutions to those three issues, so you will not have to make these mistakes or have to deal with these issues when you invite a guest during your next Facebook Live broadcast.
Here are 3 Facebook LIVE Guest 'Hiccups' and how to solve these issues if they happen to you!
1. Your Guest Doesn't Know How Facebook Live Works
This is an issue that can be prevented by asking your upcoming guest; 'Have you ever used Facebook Live and have you ever been a guest?' If the answer is 'no', take action.
FIX: Do a test Facebook Live just between you and your guest. The way to do it (so that no one else sees this test in their newsfeed) is to do a Live but set the audience to 'Specific Friends' and select the one friend (your guest) you want to go Live with. See image. When the test is over, simply delete the video - don't post it to your wall.
IMPORTANT: Make sure to change your audience back to 'public' or 'friends' when your are finished with the test! Otherwise, every subsequent post you make on Facebook will only be seen by that one person.
2. Your Guest Can't Join the Broadcast
Most often the issue is one of three things:
a) Weak Wifi. This isn't necessarily an issue you have a lot of control over.
FIX: Ask them to move to a better location closer to the router, or to temporarily turn off WiFi and use their data when on your Live broadcast. This most likely will solve the issue.
b) Phone Rotation Lock On. I have found out (the hard way) that a lot of people have their phone rotation locked and/or are not in 'landscape mode'.
FIX: When your guest can not join/accept your invite and can't join the broadcast, ask them to turn the rotation lock off. Once the phone can rotate freely, tell them to hold their phone horizontal (in landscape mode) and try to send the invite again.
c) No Comment. Sometimes the ability for you to send the invite isn't available because your guest didn't comment on the Live broadcast.
FIX: Ask them to comment 'I am here'. You should now be able to send the invite for them to join your broadcast.
3. Your Guest Can't Be Heard
This just happened to me on my most recent broadcast and it was so frustrating - I wrote this article because I do not want this to happen to anyone else; it was so frustrating.
Not having (clear) audio can be caused by several issues a) Muted Microphone. You can't hear your guest and NEITHER CAN YOUR AUDIENCE.
FIX: Tell your guest to un-mute themselves.
b) Bad background noise. FIX: Ask you guest to use a headset for the broadcast or to move to a quiet location.
c) No Sound. You can't hear your guest but YOUR AUDIENCE CAN HEAR THEM FINE.
FIX: Unplug your external microphone. This is the issues I had recently; I was using an external microphone, which I had done a dozen or so times during my Live broadcasts - but never with a guest! When my guest arrived, I was not able to hear him, but he could hear me AND my audience could hear him. The issue was on my end - my external microphone was the culprit. As soon as I unplugged my external microphone all sound was on for everyone.
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