Checklist
A 30-Minute Pre-Live Checklist: Get Ready to Go Live Without Missing the Basics
Most problems during a live don't come from saying the wrong thing. They come from small things forgotten: a dying phone battery, a wrong price, a crackling mic, or freezing on a question you've heard a hundred times. A 30-minute checklist right before you go live lets you worry less and focus on your audience. Here's a timeline you can adapt to your own habits.
T-30 to T-25: lock the script and the goal
Reopen your outline and answer three questions: what are you selling or presenting today, when do you remind people of the offer, and what is your opening line? Don't rewrite the script at the last minute. Put the outline on paper or pin it to a second screen so you can glance at it.
T-25 to T-18: verify product facts
This is a step you shouldn't hand over entirely to AI. Check against the original source: price, offer, deadline, return policy, ingredients or specs. AI can organize what you paste into a one-page cheat sheet, but you are the one who confirms the data is right.
- Current price and offer, with the end date.
- Real strengths, and the limitations worth stating plainly.
- Shipping and return policy.
- Claims you must not make, so you don't overpromise.
T-18 to T-10: lighting and sound
Record a few seconds and watch it back. Keep your main light in front of you and avoid a strong light behind. Wear headphones to hear yourself: is it crackly, echoey or too quiet? Silence notifications, close unneeded apps, check the battery and keep the phone plugged in. If your connection is shaky, test switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data before going live.
T-10 to T-3: prepare FAQs with AI
Ask AI to predict what viewers usually ask and draft short answers. You'll freeze less, and you'll have lines ready to pin or paste into chat.
I'm about to livestream [product name] to [audience]. Verified information:
[paste price, offer, policies]
List the 10 questions viewers are likely to ask and draft 1-2 sentence answers in a friendly tone. Use only the information I gave you. If data is missing, write [needs input].T-3 to T-0: the backup plan
Decide in advance what happens if the connection drops, the stream gets cut or a device fails. Have a spare device or network, a line to apologize and say you'll be back, and a helper nearby if you have one. Drink some water, breathe, then press start.
The one-glance summary
Print this or keep it in your notes app. The point is to turn a vague feeling of being ready into a few things you can actually tick off, so nerves have less room to grow.
- Outline, offer timings, opening line.
- Price, policies and off-limits claims verified.
- Light, mic, battery, network, notifications.
- 10 FAQs with draft answers.
- Backup plan and helper.
After a few lives you'll know which items you always skip and which ones save you. Trim the list to fit your setup, and add anything that has ever gone wrong. A checklist works best when it grows out of your own past mistakes.
Before each live, it's also worth rereading the platform's latest rules on selling, advertising and sponsored-content labels, since they can change.