5d (edited) • ❓Questions
Need your help please and what AI suggested.
A bunch of us have been doing Friday night lives and it has been fun trying some new things recently. I would love your input and suggestions and critique on ways we can make this more valuable for the audience.
Here is my ask:
What: I host a weekly creators catch up Live series where we talk about what we have been doing and learning on our channels, experiments, the lot
How long is it: Every Friday afternoon/evening USA time, for 1 hour
Who is on it: Anyone that wants to be but we have a core 6-8 people
What is going well: The unstructuredness of it can work well, the fellowship, community bonding with our friends who join us in the chat, learning from each other whether in the chat or on the live, and I find it really fun.
Challenges: The unstructuredness of it can work against us because there is no promise of certain value for viewers/chat participants apart from hanging out for whatever period of time people come and go for. Also because I have been lazily calling it 'Creator Catchup' there is no promise of value and can start to look like 'oh these people know each other, this is a catch up for all of them' as in, if you come across it, there can be no interest for a new person.
What is AI suggesting? I asked an AI and it said below -
Title formula (discovery-first)
Topic first, show name last:
[Big problem / promise] | Creator Lab Live
Examples:
- Fix Your Thumbnails Live | Creator Lab Live
- Why Your Videos Stall | Creator Lab Live
- Pick Better Video Ideas | Creator Lab Live
- Stop Rambling in Videos | Creator Lab Live
Your promise (the sentence you repeat every week)
Use one clear promise line. Here are two strong options—pick one and stick to it:
Promise option A (my favorite, most honest)
“Creator Lab Live is where YouTubers over 40 workshop one problem a week — we review real channels, test ideas, and leave with one next step.”
Promise option B (more community-forward)
“Creator Lab Live is a weekly work session for YouTubers over 40 — less guru talk, more real examples, real feedback, and real progress.”
Add a quick credibility anchor that doesn’t overclaim:
- “We’re not gurus. We’re active creators comparing notes and testing what works.”
The format (repeatable run-of-show)
Target length: 60–75 minutes (replay-friendly)
0) Pre-live setup (the unlock)
Collect submissions before you go live so it’s not random:
- Hot seat submissions (3–5): thumbnail + title + link + 1-sentence video promise
- Questions (10–20): all tied to the week’s topic
1) Cold open (0:00–0:30)
No greetings first.
Script it the same every week:
- “Tonight on Creator Lab Live, we’re fixing [topic].”
- “We’ve got 2 hot seats and a weekly challenge.”
2) “What we tested” lightning round (0:30–10:00)
Each panelist gets 60 seconds:
- 1 win
- 1 flop
- 1 test for next week
This keeps you honest (no expert posturing) and builds trust fast.
3) Hot Seats (10:00–45:00)
Do 2–3 max.
Hot seat checklist (use every time):
- What’s the video promise? (one sentence)
- Title: what emotion/curiosity is it triggering?
- Thumbnail: would a stranger understand it in 1 second?
- Hook: what happens in the first 10 seconds?
Language that keeps it non-guru:
- “If this were my video, I’d test…”
- “Here are 2–3 options…”
- “Here’s the risk if you keep it as-is…”
4) Topic-only Q&A (45:00–65:00)
Only take questions that match the episode theme.
If it’s random:
- “Save that for next week’s form so we can do it properly.”
5) Weekly challenge + accountability (last 5–10 min)
One action viewers can do in 30 minutes:
- “Rewrite one title using this template.”
- “Make one thumbnail with 3 words max.”
- “Record a 15-second cold open.”
Tell them exactly where to post results (comments, your community, etc.).
Your weekly workflow (so you can run it forever)
- 48 hrs before: announce topic + open submissions
- 24 hrs before: pick 2–3 hot seats + prep tabs/screenshots
- Day of: start with cold open + agenda
- After: publish 1 clipped video (8–15 min) + 2 Shorts
That last part is how you get more viewers even if the live itself stays modest.
If you tell me what day/time you go live and whether you want hot seats to be viewer channels, panelist channels, or both, I’ll propose:
- your first 6 episode topics
- a submission form question list
- a thumbnail text “phrase bank” that fits your audience (female 40–60)
Bryan AI Research
"structured run of show for weekly YouTube live streams that build community and can be repurposed into clips"
Insight
Source
Lives perform better when they have a clear topic and structure (planned topics/titles) rather than pure freeform conversation.
A sustainable system is: go live once, then repurpose into multiple shorter videos; this multiplies reach from one session.
Consistent branding elements (overlays, intro/outro, recognizable thumbnail style) make recurring live shows more memorable and “sticky.”
Repeatable formats build audience expectation; when viewers know what they’ll get, they’re more likely to return.
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Need your help please and what AI suggested.
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