How to go LIVE on TikTok (like a Pro!)

It’s super simple to go LIVE on TikTok once you know how. It’s a great way to interact with your viewers, meet new people and even gain new followers.

If you have the capability and you’re not going LIVE on TikTok, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity!

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This step-by-step guide will cover exactly how to use TikTok to go LIVE.

Before we get started, there are few requirements you will need to be able to go LIVE on TikTok.

You must:

Be over 16 years old
Have over 1,000 followers

If you’re wondering how to go LIVE on TikTok without 1000 subscribers, you’re out of luck. It’s not possible at this time. Of course, you can still watch LIVEs until you build up the followers!

Here’s exactly what we’ll cover in our TikTok LIVE tutorial:

How to Set Up a LIVE on TikTok
Going LIVE on TikTok
TikTok LIVE Summary
How to Find TikTok Livestreams
Top TikTok Tricks for Going LIVE

Let’s dive in.

How to Livestream on TikTok

First up, open the TikTok app. Press the + button at the bottom of the screen and you’ll be taken to the in-app camera. Swipe across the bottom menu bar until you reach the TikTok LIVE setting.

Press the + button to get started with your first livestream on TikTok

Now before hitting that Go LIVE button, you need to make sure you’re ready to broadcast yourself to the world! Let’s go over how to get set up for your LIVE.

How to Set Up a LIVE on TikTok

Here are the steps you need to take and settings you need to set to prepare for your TikTok LIVE video.

Change the Photo

To change your icon, click the photo in the top left. You can either Take a photo or Select from Library. This is a great opportunity to create and upload an eye-catching photo! If you keep to a similar theme for your photos, your viewers will be able to know that it’s you right away.

You can set a photo for your TikTok LIVE by pressing the image in the top right

You can set a photo for your TikTok LIVE by pressing the image in the top left

Add a Title

You only have 32 characters so you need to make them count! Write a snappy, clickable title that will make people want to watch your TikTok LIVE video. Here are a couple of suggestions for LIVE titles:

Guess what I’m doing!
What happened today…
I’m cooking *this*

Choose the Topic

Under the image you have the option to select the topic you’ll be talking about. There are heaps of different topics like Pop Culture, Daily Life, Chat and Outdoors to name just a few.

Choose the topic of your LIVE so viewers know what you’ll be talking about

Support a Nonprofit

Next to the Topic icon is the Support nonprofit button. This gives your viewers the opportunity to donate to a particular not-for-profit organization during your LIVE.

You can give your viewers the option to donate to a non-profit during your LIVE

Unfortunately you don’t have the option to add your own but there is a great variety you can select from. The specific organisations will depend which country you’re in.

Other Features

On the right hand side of your screen, you will see another menu with more features relating to your LIVE. Here’s a quick rundown of these features:

Flip Camera: Change between your front and rear camera
Enhance: Smooth your features or enhance your eyes and face
Effects: Add effects to yourself and your background
Settings: Enable moderators, LIVE gifts, comments and a keyword filter

Make sure you’ve correctly set everything up BEFORE your LIVE so you don’t have to change it during

And that’s it, you’ve completely prepared for your LIVE! Press the Go LIVE button. There will be a countdown and then you will be LIVE!

Going LIVE on TikTok

Now that you’re LIVE, there are a few things you

Connection Status

Now that you’re live, you’ll notice your connection status in the top right corner. This will tell you if you have a good connection or a bad connection. Keep an eye on this so you know if your connection is going to drop out.

Add Host or Add Guests

Click on the circular icon on the bottom left of your screen to Add host or Add guests. If you click either of those you’ll see any host or guest requests.

You can add hosts or guests to join you in your TikTok LIVE

TikTok LIVE View Count

In the top right corner you’ll see the number of people who have joined your LIVE.

TikTok LIVE Comments

Down the bottom you’ll get notifications whenever someone sends a message and joins your LIVE. Above each person’s name you’ll see a tag if they’re a moderator, host and/or friend.

Comments will appear down the bottom – make sure you respond to as many as you can!

TikTok LIVE Setting

In the bottom right you’ll see three dots. Click on these to access the Settings. These are the same settings you had access to before going LIVE. It’s a good idea to make sure everything is set up beforehand but if you need to make any changes during your LIVE, you can do that here.

Getting Gifts on TikTok

If you’re over 18 years old, you can receive gifts during your LIVE. These gifts can look like flowers, coins, cake, hearts or little presents and they transfer into cash.

If you’re over 18 years old you can receive gifts during your TikTok LIVE

Q&A Section

Not only can people comment during your LIVE, they can also ask specific questions. To do this, press the Question Mark icon on the bottom of your screen.

Ending a LIVE

To end your LIVE, press the Power button on the bottom menu. TikTok will send a notification confirming you want to end the LIVE and letting you know how many people are currently watching. Press the End Now button and you LIVE will be over.

When you’re ready to end the LIVE, hit the Power icon

TikTok LIVE Summary

After you’ve ended your LIVE, you’ll be taken to Your LIVE Summary page. There’s a bunch of useful stuff here.

You can access a recording of your LIVE for up to 90 days, so this can be repurposed for other platforms.

If you plan to use the LIVE recording on another app, you’ll have 90 days to download it

You can see the Statistics, which will tell you information about your viewers. You’ll see the number of Viewers, New Followers, Gifters and Diamonds you received. Below that are your Top Viewers and you can even comment to TikTok about how your LIVE went.

Analytics

Select View Analytics for more detailed information about your LIVE. This includes average view time, unique viewers, and the percentage of followers vs non-followers who joined your LIVE.

Press View Analytics for a dive into the more detailed information about your LIVE

How to Find TikTok LIVE Streams

Now that you know how to go LIVE, you might be wondering how to access LIVEs or how people can find your LIVEs. Well, there are currently three places you can find LIVEs:

Home Tab: Go to your Home page and at the top select Following. Along the top you’ll see every person you’re following who is LIVE. You can also press the LIVE tab button on the top left and scroll through all of the LIVEs in full screen.
Inbox: Go to your Inbox at the bottom of the screen. There will be a list of all the people you’re following who are LIVE right now.
Profile: Go to a person’s profile or watch one of their videos and you will see a pulsating LIVE icon if they’re currently LIVE. Click this icon and you will join the LIVE.

There are multiple different ways people can find your TikTok LIVE videos

Top 3 TikTok Tips to Go LIVE

Here are our TOP three TikTok tips and tricks to help you go LIVE like a pro.

Tip #1: Plan Before Going LIVE

Have an overview (a few bullet points or notes) to keep you on track. This will make it easier not just for you to present your content but also for your audience to follow along.

The other thing you can plan is the time that you’re going to go LIVE. You want to make sure it’s a time when your audience is usually online so that you can get more people onto your livestream.

Plan the best time to go LIVE based on when your audience is usually online

To find out the best time to go LIVE, check out your analytics. This will tell you when the bulk of your key audience is online so you can plan accordingly.

Tip #2: Level Up Your Gear

You can get awesome results using just your smartphone. But if you want to take things up a notch, there are a few items worth investing in.

Microphone

There are amazing (and cheap) microphones out there. The BOYA BY-M1 for $20 is an incredible option. If you’re after something with a bit more freedom, a mini shotgun mic like the Rode VideoMicro is a great option.

The BOYA BY-M1 is a great cheaper option that will significantly increase your audio quality

Lighting

You can use anything that you have access to for your lighting source. Either sit next to a window for natural light or use lights from around your house like a bedside table lamp.

To take your lighting to the next level, we’d recommend the YONGNUO YN-300 Air light. This is our favourite all-rounder light at the moment.

The YONGNUO YN-300 is currently our favourite all-rounder light

Tripod

Again, you can use whatever you’ve got around the house for this. You could balance your phone on a stack of books or put it on a shelf to get the right height.

If you want something more stable, a tripod could be worth the extra money. You can pick up a great portable tripod for around $20 like the ARKON TRIPOD which comes with a phone mount.

The Arkon Tripod is an awesome portable option for going LIVE on TikTok

For a standing full height traditional tripod, the SLIK brand would be the way to go. Or for a vlogging-style tripod, we’re big fans of the SWITCHPOD.

Tip #3: Run a Speed Test

This is a really important step that a lot of people miss. If you’re going to go LIVE, you need to check that your internet speed is good. When you go LIVE, it uses your upload speed. If that’s not good, you’ll have a low quality LIVE stream or it could even drop out throughout your LIVE.

To check your internet speed, download the Speed Test app and conduct a speed test. Make sure you’re looking at the upload speed. At the absolute minimum, you should have a greater than 2 megabit per second connection available.

Run a speed test to make sure you have fast enough internet for a high quality livestream

Also make sure that it’s not fluctuating or jumping all over the place as this will also compromise the quality of your stream.

If your connection doesn’t tick these boxes, try to find another connection. You can still go LIVE with slow internet or a bad connection but just be aware that you might face some issues.

Now You Know How to Go LIVE on TikTok

There you have it – our complete guide on how to livestream on TikTok.

In this tutorial you’ve learnt everything from how to set up a LIVE to how you can repurpose your LIVE on other platforms.

We hope you enjoyed our new guide to going LIVE on TikTok for beginners. If you found it useful, feel free to share it on your socials or with others who might like to learn more about faceless videos too.

Recommended Gear & Resources

Check out an up-to-date list of all the gear, software & tools we use and recommend right now at Primal Video on our resources page here!