Introduction
I have been streaming on different services now for about 2 years. I have learned a lot during the last year in terms of the tools that are out there for streaming. It also took me quite a while to get comfortable on stream and be more like myself. Below are my top 5 tips for streaming.
I know, I know, I do not have a huge following. However, Since February I have doubled my followers and I think that I am on track to building something cool. I think that I can provide my personal views on what you can do to make your stream successful.
1) Streaming Quality
Something that I struggled with a lot at the beginning was to have a quality stream. I was using different tools and the streaming quality of my stream was mediocre at best. I was streaming directly from my XBOX on WIFI. That was a bad idea. My streams were choppy.
Then I tried on WIFI on a laptop. That gave me a little better performance but still my stream was not great.
So I decided to hook up my internet directly to my streaming computer and I have not looked back since. Now I stream at 1080p and I have 0 buffering problems.
Advice: Get some good decent internet bandwidth and use a wired connection to your streaming computer or console.
2) Streaming Software
The software will make a difference but in the end it comes down to preference. I alternate between Game Capture HD software and OBS.
The Game Capture HD is great for streaming directly to any service. The quality will be top notch and the learning curve is not too bad. However the downside is that if you are looking to customize your overlay, the options are limited.
With OBS, you can customize your stream to your hearts content. This is especially true on Windows machines. The Mac version is very lacking in features but that is to be expected. Mac is always second in gaming.
If you are on Windows, there is a really cool flavour of OBS called Streamlabs OBS. The link can be found below.
Link: https://streamlabs.com/ (Windows only)
There are other streaming applications like XSplit and Lightstream (formerly Infiniscene). Lightstream is cool as it is strictly online. However, results may vary.
Advice: it comes down to preference but if you are not looking for bells and whistles, I would use the Game Capture HD. if you are looking to spice up your stream, OBS is your simplest and best bet in my honest opinion.
Note: The Game Capture HD only works of you use the Game Capture HD capture card (Internal or external).
3) Promote on Social Media
Promote where you can , whenever you can. I personally promote on the following social websites:
Discord
For me I have had the most success with Twitter as there seems to be a little more engagement.
Facebook has wained in the last few years. It is not necessarily because of the scandals recently. it is just that it seems people are less and less engaging on Facebook, especially on Pages.
Instagram is a really good platform. I like to promote my stuff there. I have a Business Profile which is free and it has helped me grow the traffic to my website and viewers on my Twitch streams.
Discord is a good place to be. What is Discord?
From Discord:
Discord is a newcomer to the chat scene, but it's made a big splash. The app provides voice and text chat for groups, with an emphasis on gaming.
I have been working with BNN (The British Nerds Network) and it has been great. I even recorded a podcast on there. It is pretty phenomenal.
LInkedIn is hit or miss. It is more of a professional social network. However, if gaming and streaming is what you want to do professionally, then you should be able to post on there. I know that this is not an opinion that everyone shares. I share my reviews on there. I would not spam the social network with watch me posts but I would may be once in a while advise that you have a channel where you stream.
Advice: Promote on any platform that you would like. I would recommen Twitter and Instagram for the traditional way of doing things. I would also recommend Discord once you build a little audience.
2) Streaming Layout
If you read some blogs they would advise to have a Web Cam and, show your chat and also show when someone follows. Although this is nice, it is not needed.
I stream with a Web Cam sometimes. It really depends what is the game that I am streaming. If I am streaming old retro games, then yes, I will most probably have a cam and show my chat. However, when I am streaming a more recent game, it is hard to place the camera where it will never be in the way.
I find that some channels are overly cluttered. The gameplay is smaller as they have all this stuff around. This can sometimes deter from the channel that you are watching. It feels like I am watching CNN or local newscasts with the tickers and it annoys me personally.
Advice: I would recommend the chat alert that disappears if you are playing a modern game. If playing a retro game, the chat could be permanent. The games are only 4:3 ratio anyways. You have plenty of real estate to include what you would want.
Streamlabs have some really easy alerts that can be embedded in any application that you are using. Let it be XSplit, OBS or even the Game Capture HD.
Link: https://streamlabs.com/
1) Be Yourself
This is one that I will have to agree with most sites. The most important thing for all streaming channels is the host. The host makes it or breaks it. Just because a host is not for you, does not mean that they are bad. It just means that it is not one that you enjoy as much as another.
We all have our favourite hosts. For me, I like Kilg0re_Tr0ut and LightBane_v1. They are fun to watch. There are a ton of smaller channels that are really fun to watch as well. Sometimes it just takes a little more to get that particular host going.
I would always laugh when sites would recommend, pretend there is always someone there. You know what? If you are streaming for 2 hours, it is difficult to find talking points to fill that time.
However, in the end, your true self has to come through. If you try to fake it, viewers will see right through you and will not stay very long. If you are naturally a joker, then let that out. if you are a guy that likes to talk about line trees, then do that. We all have our own little host inside, you just need to let them out.
Also engage with other streamers. When you follow them, say hello in their chat. I would say, follow a channel only if you really like the content. Do not do the follow for follow or try to trick the system for viewers. This will not work and in the end it will hurt your channel more than anything else.
Advice: Just do what comes naturally to you on stream. Viewers will appreciate the authenticity of your personality. Build your audience organically. You may not have the biggest folloer base but you will have a loyal one.
There you have it, are there points that are missing from the above. do you agree or disagree? Let me know below.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/corporategamer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CorporateGamer9
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YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/123corporate
Discord: https://discord.gg/ceGPZf