Mary Fain Brandt
LinkedIn has been on a roll this year, rolling out new features faster than lemon blueberry muffins disappear in my house. One of the newest features is LinkedIn Audio Events.
While these were previously in Beta Test mode, I am happy to share that they are rolling out access to all users (based on a set of criteria that is mentioned later on in this article).
What are LinkedIn audio events?
LinkedIn Audio Events are a new way to connect and engage with your professional connections and colleagues.
Here’s why I love them:
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No camera, so you don’t have to have your hair and makeup done (you know this is a selling point for you, too!)
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Because they are live, you can interact with the audience
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They are better than podcasts for two reasons:
a. They are right here on LinkedIn, where you already have an amazing audience
b. You can interact with your audience and have conversations with people from all over the world.
Why you might consider hosting a LinkedIn audio event
Do you already host a live show on LinkedIn? If so, then hosting an audio event is the perfect complement to your live show! It provides another touch point for your audience and allows them to engage with you.
In my honest opinion, I feel a live show is in the formal living room, whereas the audio event is in the dining room, where everyone hangs out. It has a more relaxed feel to it.
The basics
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You must have Creator Mode turned on to gain access to audio events (see images below on where to find this and what to do)
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You must have more than 150 followers or connections to be eligible to host audio events
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Anyone can join an audio event, even if they don’t have access to host one
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The default privacy setting is “public" (you cannot set the event to private)
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Come up with a name and time for your show; it’s best to be consistent if you are trying to grow your brand and increase your followers
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Events are anywhere from 15 minutes up to three hours long (you set the duration)
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Max number of guest speakers on stage is 17
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Give your connections time to see your event and RSVP (I suggest 7-10 days)
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Both organizers and attendees can invite up to 1,000 invitations per week, but only to their first-degree connections
Where to find Creator Mode on your profile
Add up to 5 topics that you post about
Note that turning on creator mode opens up access to Newsletters and LinkedIn Live as well.
How to set up an audio event
Click on the Home icon at the top of your LinkedIn page.
- On the left side of your screen, click the + Add icon next to Events.
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Type in all the details for your event: name, details, date, time, and description.
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Under the Event format box, choose Audio Event (this is very important!)
- Click Post, and you’re done!
Your audio event will be posted as an event in the newsfeed where people can RSVP and add it to their calendar.
Once the event is scheduled here is how it will look in the LinkedIn Newsfeed:
Now you need people to show up to your event!
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Create a post about it and tag any speakers who are joining you
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Invite your first-degree connections who might be interested in joining
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Share in LinkedIn Groups that you are a member of
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Create an email showcasing your Audio events and inviting your list to join you
Time to Go LIVE and Manage the Room
The day is here and it’s time to go live in your audio event.
A few tips from a pro here:
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You and your guests need to wear headsets or earbuds; background noise can be awful and nothing makes people leave an audio event quicker than poor-quality sound
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This is LIVE, it won’t be perfect; be ready to roll with the unexpected
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I have my phone on my desk and charged up in case I need to switch from my desktop to phone during the event (and yes, I have had to do this twice!)
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You are the host and it’s important that you control the room, not the guests. Keep this in mind when someone goes way off topic or begins to ramble on and on. I say something like this, “Thanks for sharing that with us! To allow others to ask questions, we are going to move on, and if we have time we can circle back to you.”
The beauty of a LinkedIn audio event is that audience members can come up to the “stage” and ask questions or share their expertise. You want to keep an eye on who is “raising” their hand 
to speak.
It will be at the top of the event as shown in this screenshot:
How to engage your audience
Prior to the event:
Life gets busy. Calendars overbook us. We forget things.
To combat all of those things, we send a short message to those who have checked attending our events.
During the event:
Welcome attendees as they enter the room, just like you would in person.
“Hi, Mary! Thanks for joining us today!”
“If this is your first audio event, give me a thumbs up.” 
“If you’re a coffee connoisseur like me, give me a heart!” 
Then you’ll want to briefly explain how LinkedIn Audio events work, since they are relatively new.
I’ve got this down to a science. And if you think you don’t need to do this, I’m here to tell you that you absolutely do need to tell your attendees how these events work.
Here are a few things you might want to let your audience know about audio events:
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You can turn on closed captioning by clicking on the ellipses on the top right
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If you want to join us on the virtual stage, raise your hand and I will bring you up
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Once on the stage, make sure you un-mute yourself
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Reminder that we encourage you to network with other attendees, but it’s not cool to spam or sell your services to them
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You can message anyone in the event regardless if you are connected
In the image below you can see Rachel raising her hand to come up on stage and the “toolbar” at the bottom of the screen.
After the event:
Don’t miss out on this opportunity to engage with your audience one more time!
Send a DM thanking them for choosing your audio event to attend, and ask a question like what kind of topics they would like to hear or speakers they would like to see at your next event. All of these questions have generated topics for us as well as leads.
What we wished we had with LinkedIn Audio Events, but don’t (yet):
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Co-host options. Especially helpful if you have a cohost as I do, or if you were unable to make your scheduled event and could ask a colleague to host it for you
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Downloads of the audio event to repurpose
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Replays for those who are not able to show up live
Mary Fain Brandt @hello2
I help entrepreneurs, executives, business leaders