Are you interested in live streaming on Twitch and are looking for the motivation to find your start? In this article I will give you some tips and tricks that have brought me success in my live streaming career.
have realistic expectations
Firstly, your audience will start small and will remain quite small for quite a while. This doesn’t mean that you won’t grow your audience with time, but if you are expecting to stream to hundreds or thousands of viewers from the start, well you are in for a sad reality. Twitch is a large playground and it will take time to build up your audience.
Many of your streams early in your career will have only a few viewers, most likely in the single digits. There may even be times where you’re streaming to zero people in the audience. This is okay and is part of the journey. You must keep your spirits high and continue to have fun even with little to no viewers. Remember, a viewer could come across your stream at any moment. Keep your energy lively and entertaining as if you were streaming to a large captive audience. When a wandering viewer stumbles across your stream, if they find someone low on energy they will leave, but if the person is ecstatic and high energy they may just stay and you might have just secured a new viewer.
Growing on Twitch is a time commitment and will take several months if not years to continually grow an audience beyond its starting stages. Twitch is not a get-rich-quick scheme and is something that will take time and dedication through the highs and the lows of streaming.
consistency is key
Something to keep in mind when building an audience is you have to stay fresh in their minds. That means you need to be streaming often enough to where your audience knows your channel just by pure exposure. Your channel should be one where, whenever someone logs into Twitch, they often notice that your channel is streaming. Streaming often also gives yourself the most possibility of being discovered by new viewers. You should aim to stream, I would say, at least once a week. This doesn’t have to be a hard number, but any less frequently and I would say an audience might forget your presence. That also doesn’t mean that you can’t miss a stream or take a week off, these are just mere guidelines. Pick a stream frequency and stick with it. What would be one step better is picking a scheduled day of the week to stream and streaming consistently on those days, but that requires more forethought that even I don’t have for my streams quite yet.
I would also add that, whatever channels you use to communicate with your audience, stay active with those too. I have opted to communicate with my community through Discord and I would say that you should be popping in to contribute to conversations in the community whenever they occur. Encourage discussion that pertains to your stream or elements of your streams or games that you are playing. Also remember to communicate when you plan to stream, even if it is a spur of the moment stream. Use your communication channels to your advantage to foster your community while you’re offline.
define your setup
When it comes to streaming, you are going to need some equipment to get the stream up and running. But this doesn’t mean you have to shell out tons of money, especially if you are just starting. There are only a few pieces of hardware that your setup will require to find success.
First, you will need a PC to stream on. This one is crucial because your computer is what will be running and broadcasting your stream. A PC with medium to better specs should do (although, you should probably do some outside research on what minimum specs might look like).
Next up you will need a microphone. Any microphone will do. It is okay if your first microphone isn’t the greatest; your audience just needs to be able to hear you. Most people have at least a headset with a microphone and that will be okay enough to get you started. Even most webcams have a microphone that could work in a pinch. You can always upgrade your microphone later. I’d personally recommend a headset mic, or a desktop microphone for slightly better quality.
Thirdly, I’d recommend a webcam or camera. It isn’t required to have a camera feed on your stream, but it helps your audience connect with you. It is difficult to make personal connections with a disembodied voice. Show off your style and connect with your audience through camera feed of yourself while streaming.
Lastly, in terms of hardware, I would invest in some small amount of lighting for your setup. It doesn’t take much, but it is important that you are well lit and easily seen by the camera on your stream. In a pinch any desk or table lamp could do, if positioned correctly. On a budget I would recommend these lights, which are what I currently use at the moment.
In terms of software I am a big fan of StreamLabs which gives a streamer everything they could possibly need to get a stream up and running. StreamLabs allows you to easily build your stream layout and already provides great widgets for on-screen chat and goals.
engage with your audience
One of the last bits of wisdom that I will leave you with is this; you have to make your streams fun and engaging for an audience.
Something that the audience look for is an inviting environment and they have the want for their voice to be heard. Whenever someone is chatting on your stream, you should make an effort to read and respond to their chats. Not only will this make users feel welcomed, but it will give your stream content to work with. It can be tough making an entertaining stream when talking in an echo chamber. Utilize the contributions of your audience to make the stream that much more enjoyable.
Another way to make your stream inviting to users is to welcome new chatters and express excitement that you have a new voice in the chat. It’s good to have many people in conversing in chat and you should encourage the voices that you can. A person may or may not choose to chat again all depending on your reaction to their first contribution.
Something else that will help build your community is trying to remember past interactions with viewers. Returning viewers will feel even more appreciated whenever you recognize their username and continue conversation that you had with them previously in stream. These conversations can even go beyond the stream and open up conversations in your Discord or other communication channels.
Lastly, I would recommend developing a way for viewers to interact with and contribute to the stream. This can be as easy as finding an easy multiplayer game to play and inviting viewers and followers to play alongside you. This helps build your relationship with your audience as you will be seen as friendly and inviting. You could also create friendly competitions in chat that encourages viewers to want to interact with the stream. I plan on getting a whiteboard to write down viewer names who consistently contribute to the channel and posting the whiteboard in the background of my streams. When viewers are able to see their contributions, they feel a sense of connection to you and your stream. These are all easy ways to make your stream more engaging and worth coming back to.
conclusion
Starting up a Twitch channel will be tough and have its hardships, but dedication and the right mindset can make it rewarding. Twitch is the kind of platform that takes time to build up, but if you are continually trying to improve your streams and build your audience, you will be sure to find success with time.