Harness LinkedIn connections: How to do LinkedIn Live


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Making the most out of our content matters and can help us drive reach, share of voice, and make our content performance culture successful. Audio – live and recorded – as well as live video can be differentiators. In this article, I’m sharing what I learned from my LinkedIn Live broadcasts.

I’ve been doing live content for many years now, and most social networks have some functionality available.

LinkedIn joined the club and rolled out LinkedIn Live. As of this writing, you can stream to your personal page or a company page.

Livestreaming expert Susie Bills shared tips on this live episode of “The Business Storytelling Show.”

Stream on a company page or personal account?

You can stream on your personal page or a company page. Each has advantages and disadvantages. The biggest being you may get more reach on one or the other. For example, if your company page has just a couple of hundred followers but you have thousands or more on your personal page, consider going the personal page route first.

To stream to your personal page, make sure you turn on creator mode.

Read next: Why I turned on LinkedIn creator mode

Streaming to multiple LinkedIn accounts

Restream rolled out Restream Pairs in 2021 and allows users to stream to multiple channels. For example, when I go live from my account, I can also send the simulcast link to my guest, and they can stream to their LinkedIn profile, assuming they have creator mode turned on.

In my Restream dashboard, I can see what channels my guests are simulcasting to.

How does LinkedIn Live work?

To stream to Linkedin, you have to use a third-party tool.

On Twitter, you can go live directly from the app – video or audio. Easy breezy. LinkedIn Live is a bit harder. You need to use one of their third-party partners to do that. One is Switcher Studio, which I use after being introduced to it after seeing Jason Falls use it while live-streaming his podcast with me and then uploading the audio to other podcast channels.

Once signed up for Switcher Studio (or one of the other LinkedIn partners), turn on creator mode on LinkedIn. That will allow you to live stream.

LinkedIn also recommends that your LinkedIn Live is at least 10-15 minutes to allow people a chance to gather. I think that’s good advice. Also, keep in mind that there likely will be many more views of the replay, so try to keep the content relevant for those audiences as well. I’ve been using LinkedIn Live to livestream my podcast. So my plan was to livestream and then use the content elsewhere as well. Since I now also use the episodes on the DB&A Television Network, all of my episodes are currently 26 minutes, the spot I get on the station.

Read next: Should I publish my podcast on television?

Is LinkedIn Live free?

There’s no cost for you to go live on LinkedIn, and there’s currently no function available to charge people to attend a LinkedIn Live.

Read next: Lights, Camera, Wireless Action: Using a wireless live streaming camera

LinkedIn live chat

Once you go live on LinkedIn, people can comment on the live post, and those comments show up as a LinkedIn live chat. You can consider responding to those comments while on air.

Where are LinkedIn Lives promoted?

LinkedIn Lives show up in the feed of your followers. You can push that reach farther by scheduling streams. And LinkedIn Lives are showing on top of your profile while live. Here’s an example.

LinkedIn also promotes your posts in the feed, like any other content. In addition, scheduling posts can drive additional reach and I would recommend scheduling posts a week or two out.

LinkedIn Live posts can’t currently be boosted, but livestreams scheduled as an event can.

Read next: How do I know if I have LinkedIn audio?

LinkedIn Events

LinkedIn livestreams that are scheduled now show up as events. That has potential to increase your audience though I haven’t seen that effect yet.

But here’s why I like it. When you schedule your stream, it shows up on your page or profile. And people can click “attend.” Once they click, they get the option to add the event to their calendar. Things being on my calendar is usually half the battle.

LinkedIn Live – with guests or solo?

I’ve done two types of livestreams. The first one was just me talking on LinkedIn Live via Switcher Studio. Here’s a replay of one stream:

I also do LinkedIn Live with guests. I love having experts on my podcast and the most popular episodes so far all have had guests on them. It makes the show much more interesting too, in my opinion.

Both versions had their challenges. Basically, I played the roles of:

  • Host
  • Producer
  • Director

Especially when I pull up examples and switch back and forth between different setups.

I’m doing all this production in Restream as I’m also trying to listen and talk myself. It can be exhausting. If you have another person available who can play that role and the host can focus on hosting only that would make it easier.

Read next: How to start a podcast – Spotify for Podcasters hosting review

LinkedIn Live integration into overall content strategy

After tens of thousands of views, I’m definitely on board to use livestreams as part of my overall COPE strategy.

In addition to livestreaming to LinkedIn, consider where else you can use the content. That can include:

  • YouTube version of the livestream
  • Podcast – audio-only – version
  • A blog post that summarizes the show or uses pieces of it
  • Quotes from the show in other articles
  • Email marketing tie-in – Don’t forget about promoting the content or pieces of it.

Software for LinkedIn Live

LinkedIn has partnered with a number of third-party platforms that allow creators to go live. Those include Switcher Studio, Restream, and Streamyard LinkedIn Live is another option.

Switcher Studio and LinkedIn Live

In Switcher Studio, when you are ready, simply click on the LinkedIn tab, add your title and go live.

LinkedIn Live - Start in Switcher

LinkedIn Live

Once live you can see in the top right that you are live and are recording.

LinkedIn Live in Switcher

The top right screen shows what’s live. Assets are in the bottom left. You can upload images there and create lower third name graphics. The top left is a preview where you can get the next live view ready.

Audio extractor Once done, simply click stop and allow the livestream to finish.

Live video file to audio podcast

I use most of my livestreams as podcast episodes as well. This is the process I follow from my iPad.

Once the stream finishes, you can export the video to your camera roll on an iPad, which is my setup. You can also export to your laptop. You can then extract the audio using a video editing software. There are also a host of online audio extractor websites available. I use this one, which is free.

I simply upload my video file and it does the rest. There might be some privacy concerns your company has using a free website for this. Keep that in mind. Given that I’m going to publish the content shortly after extracting it anyway – mostly for marketing purposes I’m not personally too worried about using a free site.

From there, I save the audio file and then import it into Spotify for Podcasters where I host and distribute my podcast. Programs like Restream also let you export the audio file only.

You can also upload video files and publish a video podcast if you prefer.

Read next: Blogging on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Live streaming from your browser

Restream is web-based, and I can stream from my browser after I enter the Restream Live Studio. Click on ADD CHANNELS and then toggle LinkedIn on. Make sure you update the title by clicking edit before going live.

Once my LinkedIn live is done, I download the audio file from my Restream account. I can then easily upload that to Anchor to get my podcast episode ready as well. Click on the areas highlighted by yellow left to right in this image.

LinkedIn Live setup with desktop computer

Most of my LinkedIn Lives now come from this setup:

LinkedIn Live setup

I connect to the Switcher app using the video chat link, just like I did with mobile-only devices. Then I mute the iPad mic so there’s no feedback. In this case, I use a camera on top of my monitor.

This Amazon Live also walks you through the setup. 

Editing previously live LinkedIn video

LinkedIn also allows the editing of previously live video. This is a great tool when you want to cut out the initial chit chatter with arriving viewers. Or a countdown clock. That early small talk is relevant for live but it’s not relevant for the people watching on the replay because they can’t participate. I often have a “starting soon” screen up at the beginning which also could be shortened for replay viewers.

It’s super easy to trim the video once the livestream has concluded. Just go to the video and click on edit video in the top right.

From there, you have a chance to trim the video.


At the end of the day, LinkedIn Live is worth integrating into your strategy. Switcher Studio or Restream are easy ways to try it. Having authentic conversations on LinkedIn with your company leaders and experts as well as external guests can really make your content so much better.

Follow me on LinkedIn to get notified of my next livestream.

And look at the numbers. If you get 500 views on LinkedIn Live, but your podcasts get 100, LinkedIn Live could help you drive audience reach. Even when it’s a bit more work. If nothing else, I find live conversations usually very authentic.



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