Reaching an audience online
A guide to live-streaming and webinars
About the book
In August 2018, 'Reaching an audience' was published, providing an introductory guide to digital live-streaming events and presentations.
As a growing number of organisations, professionals and individuals connect remotely to give talks, presentations, events and ceremonies, this book can help you to connect digitally from the comfort of your home, enhance your skills and run online events, which can enrich and support your community.
The skills and knowledge shared are vital for communities to connect remotely, it is a modern life-skill that has become ever more important for people to remain connected.
The value
After a lent lecture series was streamed live online as a trial, reaching a further audience who weren't present was such a rewarding experience for both the audience and presenters, the knowledge and skills had to be shared.
In demonstrating some technical skill and understanding, a main aim of this book is to allow events, ceremonies, webinars and presentations to be easily accessible. In helping others achieve these results, bring an experience personal to them to others connecting from their home, is incredibly valuable for communities to remain connected and support one another.
The inspiration
This book was inspired by the authors' experience of successfully providing live-streaming of an illustrated talk from a village hall in rural Herefordshire.
During this live stream, the authors used 'GoToWebinar' software to complete this stream which worked well for them. A total of 50 virtual guests attended, but as this was a trial there was no subscription taken. The presentation was streamed through a 4G connection, and this is one very important consideration to make before selecting a venue and the live-streaming service. As this was a trial that was appropriate, but if this were to be adopted as a lengthy series, this would not have been the most cost effective way to have done things.
The book outlines everything you need to know to prepare for a live stream, but in completing your own live-stream it is important to research what software is available to work best for you, your venue and your audience.
If you would like to hear more from the people who experienced the trial that inspired this book, please get in touch at: enquiry@mathonchurch.org.uk
About the authors
Jack Versiani Holt
Jack currently works as Marine Licensing Casework Officer and is also self-employed under his brand 'Holtography'. In learning essential storytelling skills during his masters degree in Wildlife Documentary Production, he has applied these skills in effective digital communication in his current role, external consultation and on many creative projects. ...
Jack has also been commissioned for an architectural photography project and has a great passion for landscape, long-exposure and wildlife photography. Jack created the cover, design and writing style for this book.
Kevin Brewer
Kevin has worked extensively as a specialist in data connectivity, managing the delivery of complex I.T. projects in both the commercial and non-profit sectors both in the UK and beyond. ...
He sees the power of live-streaming technology as a positive force for good, bringing together communities and enabling participation in events by those who would not otherwise be able to take part.
Where to buy
COVID 19 Update: Please be aware of delivery times to your local area, stock shipment may be restricted and delivery may be delayed during this time.
Currently the book is only available printed in English and German. If you would like to discuss production of a translation please do get in touch at: enquiry@reachinganaudience.com.
English Edition ISBN: 978-1-5272-2521-3
German Edition ISBN: 978-1-5272-3107-8
Reviews
Suddenly the doors are locked, we can’t meet in church, we’re isolated in our homes and the news channel is carrying stories of big churches live streaming services; great idea, but I have not got any ideas about how to even start doing that. Then in my Facebook stream comes a post about this book! The hand of God or a lucky break? Probably a lucky break, but what luck! I ordered a copy, it got delivered, I unpacked it; my first thought was ‘oh, it’s rather thin’! Don’t be fooled, this book packs a mighty punch. Clear, simple, concise and even I could understand it! It is full of tips to avoid common mistakes and guidance on what to check off to get streaming. We now come together on Sundays almost like usual, multiple people contribute to our worship just as they would in church and we feel connected. It is great to ‘be together’, while not being together! But that’s not the end of it! Now we’re hooked! Live streamed bible study group, live streamed kids ‘Sunday School’ on a Saturday (yeah, don’t ask!), I am even considering live streaming a prayer session every morning. Right now far more people are joining in than ordinarily come to church. From lock down isolation to strong community bonding, all thanks to this one book. I can’t thank the authors enough!
I was not convinced by the idea of live streaming our monthly talks at our nature conservation group. We are a small group in an isolated part of Scotland, and I didn’t see the point, but people wanted to “move with the times”. I bought this small book and it was the best choice. The book is easy to follow and turns what I thought would be a hard subject in to easy tasks and things to think about. The advice in the book is sound and well presented, the proof is we now have more people joining our talks online than come to our meetings, and the number that come to our meetings has gone up too.
It is remarkable how much information is packed into this short book while keeping it easy to understand and a pleasure to read.
One evening every month we run an “open evening” in our community bookshop to profile some selected items of new stock and we often have a speaker as well. I had not thought of live-streaming until I got an email promoting this book, but the idea immediately appealed to me. Due to the small size of the shop, and our location in the Highlands of Scotland, I think this the perfect way to open up our evenings to more people.
Everything in this beginner’s guide makes good sense, and after just a few days I am ready to start advertising this new way of joining our events. I recommend this book to everyone who runs any type of community group where there are speakers and who likes the thought of live-streaming, these are exactly the people this book is for. It is the perfect how-to guide to get you started, including good tips and practical advice for providing a great online experience for the audience. This is not a guide on how to install and set up computers and other equipment, but it does provide excellent detail of what is required. I could not be more impressed and have ordered additional copies for the shop stock.
This book was one of the best Christmas presents I was given this year. The creative writing group I run in a small village in the Highlands has long had fewer people at our meetings during the winter, this book provided a solution. I am not a 'computer person' but I still found the information in the book clear, concise and easy to follow. Live streaming has now become a successful feature of our meetings and it is already popular among those joining online. I recommend this book to anyone in similar circumstances, even if I'd had the idea to try live streaming earlier I would not have known where to start, this book guided me through everything needed. As a bonus it is very nicely written which made it a joy to read.
This book just made our wedding day even more special! I saw it on social in October and it sparked an idea “what if we could live stream our wedding reception speeches?”. I bought the book. It was so worth it! It is very well written, it demystifies what I though would be really complicated into short simple sections on everything we needed to think about. It turned out to be really easy to let family and friends that could not travel to Scotland for our big day still share some special moments with us and to give us their special messages. It didn’t even cost very much and the guide in the second half of the book on how to present in a live stream really helped everyone look super professional on screen. This is an amazing book and a “must read” for anyone thinking of doing a live stream for the first time. A big thank you and thumbs up to the authors!
I ordered this book after seeing information about it on Instagram because I liked the idea of being able to broaden the audience for our community club monthly speakers, the club chairman agreed we give it a try. It is a remote community on the west coast of Scotland and there is not much here for people to do in the community, so involving more people could be a big plus. Reading the book I became more and more convinced that by following the simple guidance in this book I could put this idea into practice, it covers everything logically from planning to what to do when the live stream is actually on air. It does not say exactly what software or equipment to use, but does give good guidance on how to choose. If live streaming becomes popular when we try it out I plan to buy a copy of this book to give to each speaker we have in advance, as the final section of the book that gives tips for people preparing and presenting a talk for an online audience is particularly valuable, yet clear and simple advice. The book is nicely laid out with a good clear font and room to make notes in each section. I have now found that there is a website dedicated to the book, but was disappointed that it did not have a forum feature to share experiences and questions with other clubs trying live streaming for the first time.
When I saw this book on the shelf in a local bookshop I knew within a moment of dipping into it that it was exactly what I needed to help me achieve an aim I have had at the back of my mind for a while, but not known how to get started. Back home I read it straight through from cover to cover and I was not disappointed. Every section gives practical advice in every day English without confusing technical language, but it still provides comprehensive information. Because this book makes what could be a difficult subject so easy to follow we have now actually live streamed a talk from our local farming support group in Scotland. The internet audience was small, but the good feedback means we will certainly be doing it again. When it came to it, the thought of broadcasting live was a bit scary, but a section of the book helped with that with a chapter “Tips For A Live Presentation” that gives very good advice written by an author who very clearly knows his subject well, it was the last step in turning the idea I have had for a while into a reality. Every group that has people giving talks at their meetings should buy this book. It needs better publicity because I only found it by luck, so I am posting this review and hope it will help.
I brought this book in a regular bookshop, having come across it by chance, and was so impressed I want to leave a review on here to recommend it to anyone thinking of streaming a meeting or presentation online. It provides straightforward clear guidance on the requirements and things to bear in mind for organising the equipment needed, followed by an excellent section full of great practical tips and advice for people presenting to an online audience from a ‘real’ meeting. This is not a technical, line by line, guide of how to wire up or configure equipment, but it is ideal for event organisers and co-ordinators who want to bring together a small team of people, who want to include people online in their group. The book does not recommend, in fact it does not even mention, any specific software or online service, so the reader must be prepared to do some further research, but it does clearly list and explain the things to consider when choosing the right package for what the read aspired to do. It is concise, but packed with valuable information, not a single word is wasted! The style of this book left me feeling I’d just got some really good advice from a very knowledgeable friend, but as I don’t have any friends with experience in this area this book gave me all I was looking for (and it has been invaluable in the success of my first “online enabled” village gardening club talk last night).
A great little book containing down to earth advice that is clearly communicated for “non-techies”. I only have basic computer skills (coming from a generation that did not grow up with them) and it has really helped me run my first live stream for our history group in rural Scotland. It was a huge success and something I had not considered before seeing this book. The book provides lots of information about the equipment and software that will be needed, but it does not recommend any particular product and I found that this gave me confidence that this was really impartial and independent advice, I enjoyed researching the options and found the pointers on each area within the book very helpful. Following all the steps made sure we did not over-look anything, and the section at the end with tips for speakers was a real bonus. A good value read, very well written!
This book will help someone who wants to run an online event, but who does not know where to start. It offers good clear advice on how to prepare for the event. It also have lots of advice for someone presenting a talk online. I found it very helpful
Den här boken hjälper någon som vill köra en online-händelse, men vem vet inte vart man ska börja. Det ger bra tydliga råd om hur man förbereder sig för evenemanget. Det har också massor av råd för någon som pratar på nätet. Jag tyckte att det var mycket till hjälp.