Super Essential Run-of-Show- What You Need To Be Prepared
Live streaming is THE thing because that's the one way that businesses can stay authentically connected with our audience. I know that live shopping or even just live streaming can still sound a bit scary for a lot of businesses.
I know that businesses try to get onto it, but they're still panicking and they don't know what to do or where to start.
When I talk to people about production in their initial discovery call, we start talking off talking about a 'Run of Show' to ensure we’re on the same page. When you’re looking for a producer, a run-of-show is an essential part of a successful event.
Taking it back a bit, “Run of Show” is an old-school, television production term that businesses did not need to know when they started to conceptualize their live stream events.
Personally, I think that scares a lot of people because their first reaction is, "Wait, what does that mean?"
Run-of-Show --- it is simple as preparation.
If you think about your event as a late-night TV show or Robert's Rules of Order board meeting -- a producer will develop your run-of-show and share the show minutes, production cues, and even define areas for your event to be more engaging.
If we break down the run-of-show, it is a simple minute-by-minute run-through of your event. Simply put --- the producer is going to hit the “go live” button at the top of the hour, then the producer is going to play my intro for two minutes and then the third action puts the host in full-screen mode to introduce my guest.
A run-of-show is keeping order in an event so that you don't have an event that goes over.
A run-of-show document is important when preparing your live streaming event -- especially for events with concurrent live sessions. You also need to allow for some flexibility when a conversation runs long.
In the lead up to the event, you may have some audio issues, a lighting issue, or an alignment issue. If there is construction going on outside, your guest may have to pause for noise interruption. Things like this may make it necessary to move some things around in order to meet all of our talking points or interviews.
What are the essentials for a run-of-show document?
The essentials for a run-of-show document: it's as simple as the who, what, when, how and where.
Who are we talking to?
What are we talking about?
When are they talking?
How long are they talking?
Where do they join the studio?
Very simple, just an outline of what you event will be. Whether it's a 30 minute virtual session or a 10 hour long hybrid event with multiple sessions, you want to clearly identify your who, what, when, how and where.
Because there are so many digital events happening, it's really important to have your show preparation done so that your guests and host can be focused and present when they are live.
Since we are still months away from planning events in person sitting around a conference table, a run-of-show document that is completed or being worked on leading up to your event.
You will want to come back to the document frequently leading up to your event; come back to it a couple of weeks before, the week before, adjust it, make tweaks and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Finally, come back to it the day before and familiarize yourself with it and then again on the day of.
