Handling live broadcast glitches requires a mix of technical readiness and calm decision-making. Over a decade in communications, I’ve learned that preparation is your strongest ally. Start with pre-event stress tests—simulate live conditions to identify potential weak points. In the moment, focus on triage: prioritize issues impacting the broadcast’s core functionality. Swiftly implement backups, whether alternative feeds or pre-recorded content. Clear communication within the team is critical—establishing pre-assigned roles ensures everyone knows their tasks during a crisis. Post-event, analyze the root causes and build a stronger contingency plan. Every glitch is a learning moment.

When a live event glitch happens, stay calm and alert your team. Inform the host, crew, and stakeholders while troubleshooting. Start with the basics: check power, internet, and equipment. Identify if it’s audio, video, or streaming-related, and assign tasks to the tech crew. If the issue persists, activate your backup plan: switch to spare equipment, play pre-recorded content, or adjust the event flow by moving to a more straightforward segment. Engage the audience. After the event, document what happened, how it was fixed, and the lessons learned. A debrief will help refine processes for future events, ensuring you’re better prepared next time.

If you’re looking to do a high-quality live-stream, do a dry-run before hand. Time things out. Make sure connections are working, make sure you have smooth transitions in place and know how to operate things proficiently. Have a plan. Know who’s coming next how long they should be speaking for, which graphic or video comes next, etc. etc. Expect the unexpected and have a redundancy plan in place. If the video or audio feed of the host or guest speaker goes down, are you prepared to step in, or have you assigned someone else to step in? When all else fails, is there some type of well designed “Technical difficulties, be right back” screen you can cut to?