Monday, June 29, 2020

Live Streaming Business Central Content

By Steve Endow

This morning I did my first solo "live stream". 


     YouTube:  https://youtu.be/J-EmRpHilNs

     Twitch:  https://www.twitch.tv/videos/664954911

     Periscope:  https://twitter.com/steveendow/status/1277607187683045378?s=20


I've participated in a few Power Platform Share live streams hosted by my friend Belinda Allen, but this morning was the first time I've streamed on my own.



Why "Live Stream"?

I'm not really live streaming for the "live" aspect.  I'm primarily live streaming to record videos. 

I have previously posted pre-recorded videos to YouTube.  That involved doing research on a topic, writing an outline, preparing demos, and testing everything.  I would then launch Camtasia, get all of the video and audio setup and working, then hit record.  Assuming I turned my mic on and didn't make a mistake in the Camtasia configuration, I would end up with a raw video filled with mistakes, ums, uhs, and repeating sentences that I misspoke.

I would then edit that video, clip out my mistakes, add transitions to cover up the switching between Powerpoint and my demos, and then adjust the audio.  The video has to be "perfect", right?  Gotta get rid of all of those mistakes!

It was a fair amount of work just to get ready to record a video.  Then I had to actually record the video.  Then edit the video to make it presentable.  It was a time consuming hassle.  All to create a video that would only get a handful of views in the next 30 days.  No matter how much I tried to streamline my recording process, it was a costly process.


An Alternative

A month ago, I had a Twitter conversation with Belinda Allen and Erik Hougaard.  Erik explained that he uses OBS to record his videos "live".  He sits down in front of the camera, starts recording in OBS, presents his topic, and then uploads the recorded video to YouTube.  Done.  No editing.



I thought, "Wow, that's brave! Recording a video with no editing!".  But I also thought, "Wow, that sounds really nice! Recording a video with no editing!"  I was envious.  And as a result, Erik published 15 videos in the last month.  While I have recorded...zero.

But...how could I possibly do that?  Wouldn't that require more preparation?  Wouldn't I have to make fewer mistakes while recording?  Would that be disorganized?  Who would watch me do that?  It felt like stage fright.


How Does One "Live Stream"?

While this concept of recording a video "live" was bouncing around in the back of my mind, I watched as Brent Ozar started live streaming his training sessions as well as other topics, like working on updates to his First Responder Kit.

https://www.twitch.tv/brentozar

If you've seen any of Brent's work, he does everything exceptionally well.  His streams are very high quality, and he uses multiple cameras, nice graphics, and chat streams to engage with his audience.  And most importantly, he seems to always have plenty of content on tap to fill an hour of streaming nearly every day.

While Brent's streams are very impressive, I didn't know what I could possibly "live stream".  I don't have the large audience that Brent has, so I don't expect a bunch of people to watch me live stream, or expect to have the level of engagement that he has with his audience.

And how would I come up with content to fill a live stream?  What would that look like?


In The Meantime...

In the meantime, my list of topics for blogs and videos was growing...but guess what? I wasn't publishing videos.  I tried to record a few, but there was always something.  Some recording issue, or a bunch of mistakes, or issues with my demos.  The end result was no video, even though I wasted a few hours attempting to make a video.


Marry Them Together?

What if I did a Live Stream simply to record and publish a video?  It would be a one-take video, just like what Erik does with OBS.  But I would use live streaming like Brent to completely skip the "record" button.  Click the "Stream" button and go.  "No Ragrets", as they say.



It's Different

So this morning I did my first live stream.  I aimed for 7am Pacific time, as that would allow me to get it done first thing in the morning, before the emails and calls.  After working through some setup and prep, I finally got started around 7:15am.

I think it went fairly well.  I don't think I had any technical issues, and the stream appears to have gone out successfully on YouTube, Twitch, and Periscope.

I was able to present my topic, which I was learning on the fly without a detailed outline or script, and work through the content and demos without any preparation.  Just winging it and thinking out loud on the fly.

Is the live stream format better for viewers?  Maybe?  I'm guessing that some people want the TL;DR; version:  Tell me exactly how to do what I need.  I totally get that, and I don't think my live streams are the best fit for those people. 

But for people who want to see the chaotic process of learning, to see all of the side conversations that occur when working on something new, and understand the thought process that goes into a topic--for those people I think the live streaming is probably a valuable resource.


Some Benefits for Me

In addition to avoiding the Record button and editing and trying to get things perfect for a published video, streaming is kinda nice.  Using the Restream service, I'm able to stream to YouTube, Twitch, and Periscope with a single click.  And the video gets streamed and recorded on all 3 platforms.  It's pretty cool to see it all work.

Just like getting used to being on stage in front of a bunch of people and presenting, I'll definitely need to get used to live streaming.  But over time I'm sure I'll learn how to relax and roll with it.


And it looks like at least one person watched the "recording" and found some value!



I now have a topic for my next "live stream"!



Steve Endow is a Microsoft MVP in Los Angeles.  He works with Dynamics 365 Business Central, Microsoft Power Automate, Power Apps, Azure, .NET, Dynamics GP, and SQL Server.


You can also find him on Twitter and YouTube


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