YouTube Live Streaming

58 topics across 6 chapters

Chapter 1

Platform Fundamentals & Policies

YouTube Live eligibility, permissions, and account setup

2 subtopics

Enable live streaming & verify your channel (phone/24-hour activation)

Choose stream type: mobile, webcam, or encoder (and when to use each)

Community guidelines, copyright & strikes (for live)

3 subtopics

Safety & compliance settings: moderation policy, harassment rules, and audience/child settings

Music licensing options for live: royalty-free, direct licenses, and platform-safe libraries

Scheduling, privacy & discoverability

2 subtopics

Schedule vs instant live; public vs unlisted vs private; premiere vs live

Optimize metadata for live: titles, descriptions, tags, thumbnails, and category

Chapter 2

Equipment & Studio Setup

Audio essentials

2 subtopics

Microphone types & placement; gain staging; preventing clipping and noise

Basic audio processing: noise suppression, gate, compressor, limiter, and EQ

Video: camera, lighting, and framing

2 subtopics

Camera choices & capture: webcams vs mirrorless; capture cards; clean HDMI

Lighting basics: key/fill/back light; exposure/white balance; avoiding flicker

Internet, power, and reliability

2 subtopics

Bandwidth & stability: upload speed targets, wired networking, latency tradeoffs

Backup planning: UPS/power, backup internet, hot spare scenes, and failover checklists

Chapter 3

Streaming Software & Encoding

Encoder and stream settings (core concepts)

2 subtopics

Set resolution/FPS/bitrate; understand CBR vs VBR and quality vs stability

Codec and protocol essentials: H.264/AV1, audio sample rate/bitrate, keyframes, RTMP/ingest

Scene building, overlays, and source management

2 subtopics

Design scenes and overlays: lower thirds, alerts, transitions, and layout rules

Practical workflows: screen sharing, window capture, green screen, and media playback

Testing & troubleshooting

2 subtopics

Run private test streams; monitor dropped frames, encoder overload, and stream health

Fix common issues: audio sync, echo/double audio, stream key mistakes, and stutter

Chapter 4

Live Production & Engagement

Run of show and on-air execution

2 subtopics

Create a run-of-show: segments, timing, transitions, and contingency moments

Guests and co-hosts: remote call setup, audio routing, and backup communication channels

Chat moderation & safety operations

2 subtopics

Moderation tooling: moderators, blocked words, slow mode, and pinning key messages

Incident response: handling harassment, spam/raids, and doxxing risk during live streams

Interactivity and community building

2 subtopics

Engagement tactics: Q&A, polls, CTAs, membership perks, and pacing chat interaction

After the live: VOD optimization, chapters, highlights, clips, and repurposing

Chapter 5

Monetization & Business

Revenue streams for live creators

2 subtopics

Monetization features: ads, Super Chat/Super Stickers, memberships (eligibility and setup)

Merch shelf and affiliate links: basics, placement, and tracking

Sponsorships & disclosures

1 subtopics

Sponsor reads and disclosures: FTC-style disclosure placement and transparent messaging

Rights management and risk reduction

2 subtopics

↗ Music licensing options for live: royalty-free, direct licenses, and platform-safe libraries (see Chapter 1)

Handling claims and disputes: what to do when your live/VOD gets flagged

Chapter 6

Analytics & Improvement

Live analytics and performance measurement

2 subtopics

Core live KPIs: concurrent viewers, watch time, retention, chat rate, and click-through rate

Understand traffic sources and timing: notifications, browse, search, and returning viewers

Experimentation and optimization

1 subtopics

A/B testing for live: titles/thumbnails, stream length, start time, and format changes

Postmortems and continuous improvement

1 subtopics

Post-stream review checklist: what to review, what to change, and how to track improvements