Whether you’re a native or non-native speaker of English, Facebook can be a source of stress. Going live on Facebook can be tough anyway, but if you speak another language, adding English into the mix can make your blood pressure skyrocket. In this article, you’ll find out how to go live on Facebook, with lots of tips for non-native English speakers.
Lives are a great way to communicate with your audience, especially if you’re an extravert or better at talking than writing. But even introverts can do this! (You’ll be great at the preparation)
Before you start
You need to accept that you’ll be going live IN ENGLISH. That means that you have less words available than in your own language and that when you’re feeling stressed, you won’t have access to words or phrases in the way you expect. You will probably make mistakes and you might well repeat words. And that’s ok and normal.
So, start by accepting this and then we’ll move onto what you need to do.
And if you don’t want to accept this? You’ll need to seriously practise your English for several months and will probably need expert support to get to the level you expect from yourself.
Check out this free guide to help you:
Prepare for going Live on Facebook
Because English isn’t your native language, you’ll need to do some preparation before you go live. This will help you feel more confident once that light goes on and the numbers count down from 3 to 1.
If you’ve never gone live before, start with these steps:
- Practise with the live software. You can choose to go live only to yourself. Make sure you have a sense of how it works.
- Go live on your personal page in your own language and talking about something simple. It doesn’t need to be long. This is about just taking that step.
- If you don’t like what you’ve said, you can always delete it afterwards. (Click on the top right hand corner of the post)
- Once you’ve done this, you’re ready for the next stage.
What happens if you don’t want to prepare? Or if you’re the kind of person who learns from doing? If you’re used to doing lives, then just go live in English and delete the result if you’re not happy. Don’t skip your evaluation though!
What if you feel really shy about going live? Try the Bianca technique: put a filter over your image when you go live, so you feel less exposed. Then next time go live without the filter.
Prepare your subject
It is always a good idea to think about what you want to say before you go live. Make sure you know these 3 things:
- What do you want to talk about?
- What do you want your viewers to do?
- How do you want to talk about it?
Let’s look at a couple of examples:
- 1. My birthday 2. Join a celebratory webinar 3. High energy, fun
- 1. Something you’ve noticed on internet 2. Tell you their ideas 3. Openly
- 1. What you think about a new app in your area of expertise 2. Learn about the app and maybe decide to try it out for themselves 3. Demo
In the example of your birthday, you have a clear call to action. In the example of talking about something on internet, it’s all about engagement, in the third example you’re showing your expertise.
It’s up to you what subject will work best for your first live in English. Is it easy for you to talk and more difficult to talk business? Then go for a conversation. If you want to talk about something in your business, then do that.
Stories are a great way to connect and make a point:
Prepare your English
Now you know what you want to talk about, what you want to achieve and how you want to talk about it, note down some ideas. It may even be a good idea to write your introduction and ending out in full sentences. These two parts are critical to how your live will go.
When I did stand up, I learned my intro, outro and bridges off by heart. The rest I did off the cuff to make it as natural as possible. This was in English, so I had my maximum vocabulary available to me. It still made sense to learn some sections off by heart.
Rehearse
Now use the practise function in Facebook to rehearse your live. How did it go?
- What went well?
- Which words were you looking for and couldn’t find? This is the time to look them up.
- Which sections could have been smoother? Rewrite or find a different way to say things.
What if you’re not sure how to pronounce something? Try this site: forvo.com
Now go Live
Don’t think about it or put it off until after lunch. Now’s the time to go for it. In English. Don’t worry about how long it is, the important thing is that you do it. Good luck!
Remember, you didn’t learn to ride a bike by looking at bike ads. You need to get on a bike and dare to take your feet off the ground.
Yep, just do it.
If people watch your live, they’ll probably react. You can see that in the comments and from the hearts and likes than come across the screen. Every heart or like will feel like a victory. Enjoy them!
And if no one reacted? You got to practise in private and you may still get some reactions for the next few days.
Tactics for Lives
Think about including one of these aspects in your lives:
- Announce your live beforehand, so people know what time it will be (maybe not the first time 😉 )
- Greet people who are watching. This reduces the ‘I feel like an idiot talking to a lens’ feeling
- Ask questions and ask people to respond. People like it when you notice them and talk to them. You’ll probably feel less nervous if you’re interacting with people.
- Ask a friend to watch and to join in the conversation. This might help you feel more secure and also means that you know that someone will react. This reduces the ‘what if no-one watches?’ worry.
Evaluate your Live
As with everything, it pays to evaluate how it went. Write your thoughts down straightaway:
- What went well? That’s in the bag.
- What went better than expected? Yay!
- How did your audience react? Did they do what you wanted them to do? Did they react with likes and hearts?
- Was your audience watching? (the most important reactions are the people you want to reach)
- What do you want to improve for next time?
- What did you like best about going live on Facebook in English?
- When do you want to go live again? Set a date in your diary. Once isn’t enough!
What if my Live is a complete disaster?
Well, it almost certainly won’t be, but if it is, delete your live, buy some chocolate ice cream, phone your best friend and tell them all about it, then try again.
And remember a live has a shelf life of about 72 hours of reach; people move on quickly.
Repeat
The more often you go live on Facebook in English, the better you’ll get at it and the more you’ll enjoy it. It’s a different way to communicate and you need to experiment to see what will work for you.
Want to practise with support?
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