5 lessons I learned from my first Periscope

Photo credit: Michelle Reeves

Michelle Reeves from The Joy Chaser and author of The Blogger’s Guide to Periscope, has been using the social media platform for a while. Here she shares five lessons and some top tips from her early Periscope broadcasts…

Have you tried Periscope? This live broadcasting platform is relatively new to the scene but is already sparking the imagination of bloggers and vloggers around the globe.

1. Periscope is a bit scary at first, but be brave
When I first started broadcasting on Periscope I was terrified! There’s no editing as you’re out there live with your audience, warts and all. Once I had a few broadcasts under my belt I gained some confidence and now I love the immediacy of this new platform – you can interact with viewers immediately and it can be great fun!
Lesson learned: Plan ahead for your first few scopes – choose subjects you can talk about easily and write some bullet points on a card as a reminder of your key points in case your mind goes blank.
(Top tip: Do a few private scopes with friends — or your Mum! — to get comfortable with broadcasting live.)

2. People interact with people
When I started “scoping” I dived straight in without introducing myself! I quickly learned that viewers are more likely to engage with you if they feel like they know a bit about you. It answers the question, “Why should I be watching you?”
Lesson learned: Write a brief introduction and learn it off by heart (or keep it on a card close to hand) and use it at the beginning of every scope. Include your name, your blog name and URL, what you blog about and what you’re going to scope about in that broadcast.
(Top tip: Repeat all this halfway through your scope for those people that joined late.)

Photo credit: Prathan Chorruangsak / Shutterstock.com

3. People forget to heart you!
Hearts are the “likes” of the Periscope world and viewers give them by tapping on the screen. But if your Scope captures people’s attention they can get so absorbed that they forget to give you hearts.
Lesson learned: Remind viewers at the beginning and halfway through your scope that if they like what you’re saying they can tap the screen to show you some love!

4. Viewers’ attention span is short
How long should you scope for? I realised with some of my early and more lengthy scopes that people were dropping off after about 10-15 minutes so that’s the time that I stick to now.
Lesson learned: Shorter, more succinct periscopes are often better than long, rambling ones — if you’re broadcasting about something that links to your blog, highlight a specific blog post for people to find out more.
(Top tip: set up a bit.ly link and write it BIG on a piece of card to show your viewers.)

5. Timing is everything!
I started off doing my scopes at 5.30am which is my golden hour before the kids get up (yawn!) Clearly there aren’t going to be as many people watching so early in the morning so now I scope later in the day.
Lesson learned: Periscope is big in the US but not quite as big in the UK yet so think about when your particular audience is going to be around and so pick your broadcast time accordingly. Evenings tend to be better for audience participation in my experience.
(Top tip: Why not get a Periscope group going and tell your friends when you’re going to broadcast so you have some friendly faces in the audience?)

Michelle Reeves is passionate about finding happiness in the everyday and shares the lessons she’s learned moving away from the habit of negativity including blogging tips and happiness life hacks at The Joy Chaser. You can follow her on Periscope as @TheJoyChaser. Michelle has also set up a Facebook group for Periscope newbies to help bloggers and vloggers with support and encouragement.

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