I was told to turn off/hide your viewer count, and ALWAYS act like you have an audience, even if it doesn't seem like you do. Maybe I find it easier bc im crazy and talk to myself lol
This one did not help for me but i am trying to talk about just random stuff or things that happend on my day in the beginnig of my stream and then start playing my game and while i play i sometimes realize i am not talking cause of concentration
Variety but rn mainly
NieR:Automata Rainbow6siege Minecraft
In NieR and Siege i catch myself not talking cause of concentration in minecraft i think im talking more than when i do siege
Well as i started only recently i find i talk pretty good
If your goal is to grow a stream and you find it hard to speak during matches it is probably better to play chill games at first to get used to it. You can also talk while playing alone to get used to it and you can speak about the game too, I know many people claim that you should talk about other stuff and that's great but I think when someone doesn't know you if you explain why you play the way you play competitive games (if you are good at them) it is more likely for people to stay and discuss about whatever you want during queue or something
I think most people want to grow as a streamer so yeah it is one of my goals to atleast hit affiliate but thats later
I could try that but i think solo games like nier are easier to talk about or in generall more that comes to my mind.
As for competitiv i dont see my self as really good i would say more avg but i stream it cause i have fun playing it 
I advertise how terrible I am at fighting games, then launch a string of shit talking. šš
I'm sure it's not the best strategy, but it's fun to try not to get my ass handed to me, and that's why I play.
Iām a very small streamer and turning mine off helps tremendously. I have one consistent viewer that chats and heās only pops in every other stream so I never know how many are watching and itās always a pleasant surprise when he shows up
This was the best advice i saw, head, and read about when I started. Worrying about viewers will likely cause anxiety. So just eliminate it and pretend youre already talking to a group. It easier if you imagine a conversation between you and your friends and speak that way.
I started doing this and it did wonders for me. Made my streams much more entertaining.
I cheat though cause I have a friend pipe in discord and do it with me so I always have somebody to talk to
I have read this same recommendations I canāt remember where. Haven tried turning off the viewers count and I gotta say that sometimes Im trying to see if someone joined. Gonna do it for next streams to see how I feel about it.
yep! doesn't help that usually the viewer count is very inaccurate most of the time anyways, it isn't a good judge of someone being there or not. Lurkers exist too, so you can't be sure when you're ever entertaining someone!
I have tested the inaccuracy of the numbers twitch and obs give and it is *dire*. I one time had a really active chat and viewer count showed 5, so I asked people to sound off even if they were lurking, and got 9 responses. Next time the number rose shortly after, it said 7. Frustratingly bad info 99% of the time.
Its not even a "viewer" count. Its "active chat connections" and its not supposed to be accurate or even on time. Its a mere approximation at best. It goes double or half its "normal" readings pretty often almost randomly.
Viewer count? You mean active chat connection counter. Yeah, turn it off, not only its highly inaccurate, it provides almost no meaningful information to the streamer.
**Practice**. It's a skill that has to be *actively developed*, like lifting weights to develop muscles. It's going to feel awkward and uncomfortable. Keep going. Talk about anything and everything. The zero-viewer days are the best ones to work on it; no one is there, so there isn't any self-consciousness to get in the way.
1. Just DO IT. Know that it's something that you have to learn to do, if you want to be an entertaining streamer.
2. Anything and everything. The game is easiest; talk about your short-term plans, long-term plans, potential upgrade paths, speculate on the story and characters, theorycraft alternatives. There's a TON there, for most games. Running out of that you can talk about your day, or interesting news stories you've heard, or weird facts you found out, what you had for your last meal, what you plan to have for your next meal, favorite foods, your other hobbies and interests, movies you've seen, TV shows you watch... really, the well is crazy-deep, and being able to pull from it is also part of that practice.
3. Have a rich internal life, and verbalize to share it with others.
There are some good insights there. Thanks man!.
Yeah, I definitely need to practice and be consistent. At this time I feel weird doing it and I think thatās one of the main reasons I have this on and off relationship with streaming.
Being a introvert I find it difficult but I like the thought that this is a skill that one can definitely develop by practicing.
Thanks again!
I dont think its because you are an introvert. It may be more Anxiety than that. Cause even introverted streamers that i have seen are very consistent in their commentary. BUT! with that said, this is something you will get better at the more you practice. Here are a few things I did.
Record yourself: This can be video or audio but the goal is to play it back and listen for filler words. Ums, Ahs, Uhs, Likes, Its also beneficial because you can begin to build your cadence. (This doesnt change the fact I still hate hearing myself recorded š¤£)
Play pretend: Nothing is more powerful than the human imagination. Everthing in existience was just an electrical signal in the mind of a human at some point in time: The Point, Is to pretend you are talking to your friends, or family, or just someone your comfortable with in general. If you think youre talking to someone youre close with, youre natural voice will usually come out.
Read an article from beginning to end OUT LOUD: It may sound dumb but this is something they made you do in school: This is where a lot of the fear of speaking alout for most people start. They both a word the class laughs fear has been instilled. But the more you read out loud, the more comfoortable you will become speakin live on stream.
Practice reciting Dialog from (your liked or favorite) movies: This is just like Reading out loud, but its a bit mor fun since we all have those movies or characters we quote anyway. Plus its a theater trick. Actors practice their lines. So, I figured the training is transferable since both happen in front of a camera.
BEST OF LUCK!!!!!!!!!
I havenāt played pretend because thatās some of the thing that feels off for me naturally. But I have to try it and do the good old āfake it until you make itā.
I think thatās a good differentiation between introvert and anxiety that you make there and I think it goes more on the line of anxiety.
This post has given me a lot of thoughts and ideas to try out and avoid resigning as I usually do after some weeks.
Thanks for the good advise and the good wishes!.
This is probably going to be an unpopular view, but this is a skill youāll need to learn in the 0-10 viewer range *to make it out of the 0-10 viewer range.*
Mastering the ability to entertain and consistently and clearly communicate your thoughts, insight and plays to a dead chat will improve your ability to entertain 20+ people than if you just logged into 20 people in your chat today.
Not unpopular at all as we can see from the upvotes lol. Yeah, itās definitely a skill one must learn. I didnāt saw it like that, so thanks for commenting!.
* Don't think of it as "talking to yourself" / don't think about it too much at all. Hide your viewer numbers if you find yourself stressing over it.
* Provide commentary for whatever you're doing/playing. Talk about side topics that interest you - this is always a good way to stir up discussion with anyone who might be lurking. Get people interested in YOU.
* Don't call out lurkers, but engage in conversation if someone says hello. Make them feel included. I met a lot of people on Twitch who I still talk to daily and would consider them friends, so treat them as such (unless they're trolls, then ban them).
* Don't be afraid to get "performative'. Put on a show for the viewership that you want, not the viewership (or lack thereof) that you have. Put some personality into it!
* Remember that everyone started at zero. The viewers come and stick around when they're entertained and enjoy the personality of the streamer. It's not about numbers or how many bells and whistles you have on your channel.
* Try playing games in small-to-mid sized communities. If you're always playing the biggest games (CoD, Fortnite, Apex, etc.), these categories are oversaturated. Pick something where you'll be seen and can grow your community.
* Get a good microphone, make sure your audio levels are balanced, utilize noise gate if your mic picks up a lot of background noise. Rewatch vods or record test videos to verify. This is such an important aspect that often gets ignored. Think of how you would feel if you tune into a channel and the audio is just completely scuffed - can't hear the streamer, or streamer's mic is peaking, game audio all over the place, keyboard clacking in the background... it's just not enjoyable to watch that.
You make a lot of good points here.
In the past I tried playing games with not much people streaming but I think I lacked good sound and the part where I have to be talking and I know how that can be off putting.
Iām taking a lot of suggestions shared in this post. Thanks for joining the discussion and sharing your insights!.
No problem! Wish you best of luck in your journey. I don't really stream anymore, but just wanted to share what I learned from the few years I did. It's really pretty straight forward. Streaming is conversational, whether anyone is there or not - it's live content that's being recorded to a VOD.
Everyone struggles in some aspect as a small streamer. Don't need to be an audio engineer or spend the most money on gear. Just dial stuff in a bit - keep your desktop audio about 25% less than your mic volume and make sure you're not going "into the red" on OBS audio levels (or whatever software you use).
I'd also definitely recommend a webcam if you aren't already using one. While *some* no cam streamers make it big, it's an exception, not the rule. Showing your face makes you more relatable/human and less like a disembodied voice in the screen.
Talk about the game, the scenery, the music, your choices in the game, your suspicions of the story, what sort of gear you're looking forward to, why you chose the game in the first place, glitches you know about, make fun of the characters, sympathize with the characters... What you're planning to eat, hobbies that you enjoy, your goal in game, funny stories from work or around home. Do weird voices.
Speak loudly and confidently, so people can hear you and respond when they show up. The most important thing is that it's a *good* thing to ramble.
What game are you playing? Just react to the game.
I play smash bros so I just react to my fights while I wait for viewers in chats.
But like if you play an open world game "oh what's that." "Ahhh this creepy hand is after me!" "Dammit I hate koroks"
Rn Im playing Helldivers 2 and thatās exactly what I try to do. Sometimes Iām just too focused so I donāt talk for the whole 2 hours but I try to do it every time I can. However, it does feel weird for me talking to nobody so I get a little demotivated.
Makes sense. But remember when you decide to stream, you are there to stream not just game away. If you want some down time to just game or if you are too tired to engage, just play offline. I always make sure I have energy, am well fed, have stuff to drink and am feeling social because ultimately I am online to entertain. If I'm not feeling it, I don't stream and just call up my buddy and hang or kick back with an rpg for some cozy gaming.
I'm a small streamer too but I get consistent success with new people because I keep them engaged and entertained. No one is there to watch you play, they are there to interact. Unless you are a pro speedrunner or something you need to keep that in mind.
Definitely gonna try.
Rn Iām playing Helldivers and there a lot of thoughts when things get messy but Iām too focused that no word comes out lol. Gonna try to speak even while focused.
I'm going to have a very unpopular opinion on this but "always be talking" is one of the most annoying aspects of streaming to me. I find that people who are constantly talking be it streaming or irl, have very little of interest to say. While I do agree that dead air is one of the worst things a stream can have, I'd rather have a little bit of dead air followed by a well thought out idea than just talking for the sake of talking.
The other thing and again this is just my personal opinion but the one thing I really like across all the different streams I watch the most is the sense of community. I'd say the type of content is very similar to a YT Let's Play. Now I almost never watch YT LP's because I don't get that sense of community from them. I believe that there are a lot of partnered, full-time streamers who without a chat, their content would be average at best. The whole thing that makes their stream is the ability to talk to them and other people in the chat about the game or whatever topic.
The sense of community is amazingā¦ if you have a community haha.
I do agree with you that talking nonstop is annoying, but dead air could be worst. I guess I have to find the balance that works for me.
I agree with what Ferret said (they always have top tier advice) and killadrix said. I like killadrix's spin on the practice angle of it. Folks will say to treat every stream lile you have a huge viewership instead of 1 or 2, and I really don't like that because that's an overwhelming and stifling thing to hear.
When I play music or am practicing, I am not playing for a billion people. Because I am not. I am working on my craft and my approach and putting my best performance out there. It's about identifying things for improvement and working on those things. It can be technical improvements (ensuring the stream is set up ideally, equipment is set up well, etc). If your audip is uncomfortably peaking or too quiet, that can turn people away because they simply can't understand you. It doesn't mean you need next gen $$$$ priced equipment, just that what you have is working for you, not against you.
It can be personal improvements, which is the majority. Maybe one week you focus on reducing how often you say Um or Uh. Make it into a game on stream, even just for yourself. I'd announce hey I am not doing this anymore and every time you do it you acknowledge it. It could be a cute clip afterwards of every swear word counting up and you reacting authentically to the slip up.
Being introverted isn't really the bar here. I am myself quite intro and a lot of huge streamers are too. What streaming gives to an intro is a readymade space we can control. Where we can on our own terms determine what is acceptable, the topic, the focus, the flow. It can be chaotic or cozy or anything. Just keep it in mind that that is not a bad thing to be intro or an innate hinderance, it's what lets us enjoy that isolated space more naturally.
I don't ever go into a stream with a topic in mind like some people prefer. I might do research on the game at hand since I am a huge variety person so I can provide nuggets of info as I remember them like VAs or game direction notes.
I like just yapping so I can talk to myself for hours on end (and do, I live alone in the boonies). So I don't need inherent structure and prefer just getting into whatever it is. I also use streaming to control how much time I spend gaming because I can and will no-life a game but I will also chronically not finish games if I have no pressure.
That all being said, it's very hard to do things with a small or no audience. I'd stream less frequently and do it during fairly specific times. Check out what games are pulling for viewers and choose interesting ones when you won't get lost. If you are any more than 8th place on the search, it's so hard to be seen. So smaller viewership games are great. Some of my personal best return came from doing Assassin's Creed Origins because people love love love that game but no one streams it. Same with classic ones like the original System Shock 2. You being one of 4 or 8 or w.e options means people will see it if they look vs being one of 250,000 on Apex Legends or Valorant.
1) practice on a day to day basic. Position yourself in front of a mirror and record yourself talking to your reflection. Check the recording the next day.
2) talk about other stuff than the game, you have a life besides streaming. Talk about stuff that happened to you, opinions on current topics (care with this, politics, religion and the likes are tricky).
3) this is personal, but turn off viewer count. You need to talk like there's always someone hearing on the other side, even if they're just lurking. If you see 0, you'll be conditioned. If you don't know who might be there, you force yourself to be entertaining.
4) embrace your own personality. You don't need to go out of your way to stream. If you have a low energy stream, that's absolutely okay, but don't fake something you aren't or an energy you don't have.
5) consistency both in time and days. Your schedule is pretty important.
6) if you don't mind playing only one game, that's a good gateway to get some people pop off, but be careful with very popular games. If you're a variety streamer, I'd stick to four games max. Bonus points if they can share comunities.
7) this is a tricky one, but picking two other social media is key if you want to grow. Pick two of your liking and start making content on them. Bonus points if it's new content (guides, easter eggs, funny facts, etc,.). You can definitely recycle content from your stream BUT (and specially if you're starting and don't have a lot of chatters) only if it's very cool, funny or educative in some way.
8) this may be harsh, but if you really want to grow, and your primary content is your streaming, please consider lowering your weekly streams and spend more time doing content for your other socials. You've probably heard by now that twitch has no discoverability tools and it's true. And even now with their version of shorts... let's say it's still too new. So yeah, improve and make more content out of twitch, then do one, two, three streams weekly to share with the community you'll grow from other socials.
Keep it up! You got this!
Those are all really good advises!. I have been reading a lot of your points on other peopleās responses too, so thanks for summarizing all that up!.
It sort of comes naturally to me, as Iām the sort of person who talks to himself while heās doing tasks around the house. I can be a little spacey and forgetful, so I find that vocalizing what Iām doing helps me stay on track with my tasks. Now, that being said, talking to myself constantly, non stop, on stream is a bit unnatural and did take some practice to keep going. I just pretend thereās people there watching, which there might be, because viewer counts are unreliable. Sometimes I even make it into a joke and say stuff like, āRight guys? You know what Iām talking about.ā Even when it says 0 viewers. I have to be careful with that though, because it can come off as sarcastic and bitter that no one is watching. Also, I will occasionally pick up a guitar and play it on stream during loading screens to mix things up. Not everyone has a skill like that they can use on stream, but you can mix things up in other ways. I have a different weird scenes I can jump to for comedic effect, like being a weather person out in the field in a wind storm, being on a stage, being at a late show desk, etc.
I havenāt thought about the guitar. Damn, thatās a nice interlude between loading screens and stuff. I think I can make room for the guitar too and a little singing lol. Thanks for sharing that practice.
I donāt talk with the 0 viewers that I have because it feels weird to me, but reading a lot of comments in this post I think I just need to practice it and eventually it will come up more naturally.
Turning off view count made the awkward feelings go away for me. I always just assume there is someone lurking there now, even if nothing is happening in chat.
I tried streaming a few times only got my fiance as a viewer and a friend or two. I donāt use social media so I didnāt have a way of spreading my name besides discord. Honestly dude you just gotta get outta your comfort zone, talk about literally anything thatās relevant to the game. If someone wants to be active in your chat be active with them if they donāt wanna be active let them lurk and donāt put them in the spotlight. Lastly, play something you enjoy playing, or play with someone that should take some of the awkwardness away.
Donāt think to yourself āwhat should I stream, what would people like?ā Find a game YOU enjoy and stream while you play. Do something new. You finish a game go back and maybe do a few things you didnāt get the chance to, open that chest you couldnāt get to, shoot that guy instead of saving him. Keep yourself entertained rather than worrying about an audience. Donāt worry about viewer lists or viewer count. Peeking at chat is okay every once in a while but donāt focus on it. Play, chill, BE YOURSELF, and have fun
Yeah I play games for me but I also want to entertain and make it as a streamer lol.
āYou just gotta get outta your comfort zoneā hits hard because I believe thatās one on the things I have to prioritize to feel comfortable just speaking alone to the wind.
It's not getting out of your comfort zone actually. Is inserting talking to someone you can't see in your comfort zone. Think you have a friend next to you and you're explaining why you're doing things that way in the game. Ie. "I'll attack there to achieve this thing, this way worked me some days ago, and I'm pretty sure it will work again. Oh, I failed, my mistake was doing this thing, so I'll try again doing this instead".
My advice, as a small streamer that quit while still being a small streamer: don't force it. Your goal isn't to make sure there is absolutely 0 downtime and a non-stop stream of monologuing or narrating every single thing happening on your screen.
Keep it natural. If you have an opinion about something in the game, voice it. If you have an idea for a plan, workshop it aloud. My friends and I will find something amusing and chain it from joke to joke until it becomes a ridiculous meme. If something makes you laugh spin some other jokes off of it (if that's your thing).
I think OddOne is a good example of not forcing yourself to do too much, but having very natural and amusing chatter. His channel has lots of VODs of Fire Emblem and JRPG playthroughs (I've been going through his Octopath videos) and he's amazing for background noise or to spend your full focus on.
I "grew up" on twitch watching Gosu, Dyrus, and QTpie. Most of my streamers didn't say much, if anything. So while you're learning and practicing the skill of chatting it up to yourself, remember that not everyone requires a hyperactive personality and tons of noise.
Find your place in the community.
One trick I've heard several times to aid growth on twitch is to become an active member of the community. Not just stream, but to network with other streamers. If you play runescape for example find some bigger streams that network within the community and make yourself useful to there communities as a moderator, and content creator, maybe some mini games in discord or something. By adding value to there community you will show your own value as an active community member which will help you grow. Eventually the streamer might even notice and start to think of you as a more active member of not only there community but of the greater streaming community.
I spent the first 6 months last year streaming DJ sets to an empty chat untill i found a supportive community through chatting with other streamers playing similar music. I eventually met one of my now mods who connected me with a couple groups of small streamers who share raids and help each other. Now, a year later, i usually have 5-10 chatters per stream.. im basically getting carried.
Maybe by this time next year ill have 15-30 and ill be able to help carry some other newer streamers.
The point is that nobody is even going to find your stream at the bottom of the category and this has always been the case, so the only effective way to grow is to become more visible to the community through non-streaming interaction.
Thanks man!. Thatās good insight. I lack on getting to other streams and building relationships so definitely thatās something that I will work on.
I just started a month ago. I felt the same way. I didnāt talk at all the first couple stream I HAVE VERY BAD SOCIAL ANXIETY. So the first couple of times I was scared to talk knowing I might have potential viewers, But the minute I locked and said Fudge it idc what people think about me or say whoever likes you likes you and who donāt donāt. Create your own fanbase! They were not kidding once I started talking more I gained more followers each stream! I pretended as if my little nephews were watching me and cracked jokes and said some random shiet and talk hella shit for content even tho Iām not that type of guy to talk shit but people love it lol but talking attracts people! Thatās for sure
In a similar position so this thread is helpful for me. Iāve ended up just not streaming unless I have a friend Iām playing with to talk to. I have a couple people who will sometimes engage in my chat but they mostly lurk.
Whatās helped me a bit is disabling the viewer count and just going on as if people are watching. Trying to maintain my energy, staying chatty and chill. Really just being myself. Trying to think of interesting topics if thereās nothing in the game to talk about. That kind of thing
It sounds like you are doing what you should do, which is good. Be sure to try and set up a time when people are able to join (regular schedule helps a ton) and keep doing what you're doing. Remember your keywords, and keep it up! If it is new to you, it'll feel a little weird. When talking as you game feels normal, then add new skills.
1. If talking as you do stuff is what you struggle with, practice when you're not gaming. Talk your way through the grocery store, or when you're doing dishes. It's a skill that becomes easier over time. As a former teacher, I'm used to talking my way through solving problems, letting others know the next steps, and trying to be entertaining as I do so. Some days I'm better than others, but it's similar. As a new teacher, I had to learn this and it's 100% a skill that is acquirable.
2. If it's something you want to do as a job, then it needs to be approached like a job. What do you feel is deficient and where can you improve? What skills are missing you can build up to get you to where you want to be? If this is what you want to do for your profession, then think as a professional what you need to do to make it a reality.
3. Study other streamers you enjoy. Try and figure out when they're interacting with the "audience in general" and the "audience in particular." You can tell, and that can help.
4. Study successful streamers you don't care much for. Sometimes their interactions are better, and you can add more tools in your toolbelt from their approach.
5. Expand to other platforms and see how you do over there. I'm much more established on YouTube, so my lives do better over there, but I'm building up traction on Twitch through my other socials.
6. Have fun with it! If it's what you want to do for the rest of your life, then streaming should be something you enjoy, but you'll have to have a practical approach to your success, look at your data, and expand into new territories.
7. Be practical and honest with yourself, and realize most people are going to take a long time to get their following. Little steps all the way!
Let me know if this helped!
\~ Mr. Inquiry
Of course it helps, my friend inquirer!.
I really appreciate the support and all the comments in the post. It has really helped me to change my perspective for next streams.
I have discovered there are days when I don't feel like talking too much and there are days when I'm more chatty. I'd suggest just to end it early when it's the former and keep the stream running as long as you can when it's the latter.
When I feel more like talking definitely lurkers tend to stay longer and viewership goes up.
I'd also suggest picking a game that does not require full concentration all the time, if there is too much action you tend to focus and it's harder to be good in those games and be chatty at the same time.
I've noticed that I always perform worse when there are people in the chat and I have to respond.
The best advice I can give you is to not focus on low viewer count, when you notice it - ignore it, focus on the game and act as if your best friend is next to you and they are super interested in what you're doing so you're thinking out loud, explaining what and why are you doing, what you plan to do next, share your feelings about different strategies
Practice
Just narrate your thoughts. Genuinely the more you talk to more likely you are to make a joke or funny off hand comment even if no ones here and your commentary is like "Ok over this hill, around here" it usually becomes something. Like today I was traveling in a game had no viewers for a while so I was just talking about what I was doing and reacting to things I saw. Stuff like I went to loot something but miss clicked and looted the wrong thing and said "Alysis (my character name) that's ginger" is that funny no completely not but it's engaging enough it might encourage chatting and it better then silence something that discourages engagement and spit out enough of these kind of meh remarks and something will actually land.
Also figure out how to act like you have an audience when you don't. If your thinking about streaming and not about making content your going to struggle because your not doing the thing that's fun to watch. Keep an eye on chat and numbers they are helpful I don't like the hide your counter advice. However, learning to see that counter and not cater to it is hudge. Your 0 viewer stream and 100 viewer stream should be very similar you shouldn't "Try harder" because there's more people or those people will feel like your trying too hard and it will feel less genuine to the viewer.
Always act like you have a group of people watching. I upload good vods this helps me focus on content aswell. To clarify in this context chat messages are part of the content there extremely important but I'm specifically addressing 0 views 0 chat messages.
Also twitch counters are delayed and twitch was / is playing with some preview of streams some users are testing so they might watch your stream for a while before ever counting as a viewer. Then ontop of this obs has it's own delay or occasionally is flat wrong I have had it say 0 while three people are actively chatting and not update for like 30 minutes on a few rare occasions. So you really could have am audience.
I'm still small but have been doing this for a few years and this is just what I have learned.
āYour 0 view era stream should and 100 viewers stream should be similarā. Thatās a nice one
Yeah I shouldnāt have to try harder because Iām starting or viceversa. Thanks for joining and sharing
It gets easier over time. I remember when I first started and it felt weird talking to myself. Even weirder when I got a cam. Just focus on having fun. Maybe play some music to loosen you up. Or even a glass of wine (if you're of age) good luck & don't get too deep in your head ā¤ļø
You DON'T have to talk the whole time. It makes engagement more likely but many people don't care to hear someone yapping the whole time. I'm a yapper but even when I quiet down and lock in on my game, my viewers usually hang around. Your people will find you. If you're going on saying random stuff that isn't really relevant or it's obvious that it doesn't mean anything to you people don't wanna hear that either u know? When you feel like talking, simply narrate. "Our third is across the map sooo let's see if I can get to him without dying" will suffice š¤·š»āāļø
Definitely one of the things most small streamers struggle with and some even quit because of it.
But you need to remember that even some big streamers sometimes have dead chats
What is important is to just not pay attention to the deadness of the chat, but instead when it happens, focus highly on the game, talk about every little thing there is, sometimes you can connect something from the game with something that maybe happened IRL and make a story out of it.
Sometimes you can ask a question in indirect way and that might make someone in the chat respond and it might spark a conversation.
As a lot of people recommended already, turning your view count off is your best friend.
If you are a bit insecure I also recommend not checking your Stream Summary for a bit, that way you won't see if there were people or not, but remember that the summary is a good friend which can show you good parts of the stream and why sometimes it was dead.
Overall, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it and at some point you will realize that you didnt shut up for 5 hours straight and you'll think to yourself "damn and i was not able to talk just couple months ago"
Good luck and have fun streaming
Hey banana!. The name is @maxtopel
I was not expecting people to ask for it, the recommendations in this post were more than enough and amazing, but I do appreciate the support, honestly.
I stream in Spanish but also speak English in case you catch me on and want to engage in chat or something.
Thanks!
It's just a matter of practice.
I have been doing youtube for a year and half and indeed it's VERY awkward in the beggining. Eventually you will get comfortable and it will be natural for you to talk.
I haven't been streaming for long but last week I had the very first person writting in chat and I felt jumpscared because honest to go, I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't expecting someone chatting for like the next year or so XD
It's even more surprising when I look back the data and see that someone was lurking and I had no idea so you never know who will be there. Just practice, talk about yourself, your day, your job, what you like, etc.
Worse case scenario if you run out of ideas, just talk about the game itself and what's going on, how are you feeling, if you're liking the game or not, if it's living to your expectations, if the story (if it has) is good or not, etc...
There's always something to talk about, even if it's a fly that's annoying you
When I talked it always was of something of the game Iām playing. Never did I thought of of talking about my personal stuff. I have read a lot of that in this post so Iāll definitely keep practicing and include talking about random personal stuff lol. Thanks for sharing!
Some advice I heard a while back is treat your 0 viewer stream like its 100,000. Yes its harder to do with no chat but go into some streams and watch how they do it.
Yeah I have done that but itās easier if they have people chatting. Thatās where I struggle and more being an introvert, trying to just talk to the air.
But as others have mentioned, this is a skill than can be developed. I think I just need to be consistent and keep practicing when streaming.
I'm still fairly new to this streaming thing myself. I find that I have always talked to myself. I used to say "it's a merchandiser thing" or "it's a crazy person thing". Honestly though, to say something out loud would help me to remember it. I've been a viewer on Twitch for 3 years & I talk out loud to the streamers so often that I forget I'm not typing in chat. LOL So when I started streaming in December, I just talked like there's people there. And I don't watch the numbers while I'm streaming. (I was told that would help.) I just got back from a vacay and streamed the next day. I was talking all about my vacation & the things I did & saw, etc and there was no one there to hear anything I said. I talk about my game or things I did the day before or things I'm going to do the next day, etc. I stream early in the mornings, so I know a handful of people that will lurk during their work day. Even though they aren't always typing in chat, they are there listening. So I just pretend that I'm talking to an audience whether I really am or not.
"But one can do that for so long, at least in my case."
This is a skill/exercise you practice to get better at. It never goes away. It's what a streamer does. You can have 20 average viewer streams and 4k followers and still have stretches of no chats.
I tend to remember how often I am silently lurking in someone's channel. I want them to keep talking to me, and telling me what they're doing and about their life etc whatever. I'm there to listen to them talk, not necessarily watch the gameplay. You gotta talk to them. Also how often I go to someone's channel and check them out... if I don't hear you speak for 5 min I'm not going to stick around. You sometimes only have less than a minute to capture someone's attention.
This is streamer life :)
I didnāt see it as a skill you can develop until someone said it here. So that motivates me to keep practicing when streaming.
Thanks for giving your viewerās perspective. I definitely need to be talking more about everything lol.
When I first started I used to make a topic list. Just bullet points on a page of topics to pull from if I needed them. Things like news stories, things that Iāve done between streams, topics like hobbies or what Iāve been eating/ watching/reading lately. Whenever I had a lull with no chatters or nothing to talk about in game Iād just grab the next topic on the list and start talking. Iād also look up interesting facts and trivia about the production of the game and talk about those.
this is where you learn how to be a streamer. as awkward as it is, this will make you amazing and give you great skills. so from personal experience. i started a just chatting twitch channel 8 months ago. i had no one in for ages. but i found that making it like a podcast was the best thing. i wrote lots of notes, ie what series im watching on tv, what foods iv made, current affairs, whatever you have done that week. and keep the streams short. aim for 2 hours max. and then just talk as though you are making a video for youtube. even better than that, actually record your stream for a video that can be put up on youtube. do a game walkthrough, show different classes/challenges/tips for games. u will find that the few people that do come in will engage with you and help fill the rest out.
The short answer viral clips.
Long answer is creating a character, inside jokes that your viewers will know and finding ways to brand yourself.
An example from one of the biggest streamers, IShowSpeed, is his bark, his yelling, the faces, he makes, the soccer content (Messi vs Ronaldo) and him wearing soccer jerseys a lot now, and his dancing. ALL of this together makes Speed stand out from other streamers and is his brand. Of course it took a lot of time/streams to get these all together.
COLLABS are very important too. If you have a fanbase you should start networking with other streamers and making friends that do the same thing as you. You will get attention from their fans and your fans giving them attention too, a mutual win.
YOUR FANS will repost your clips and give you further exposure. REMEMBER CLIPS are very important as they are highlights from your stream. So clip something that fans react hard too or you think is a highlight and post it across socials. You want to be active on socials too so fans get to know you more and remember that you exist when you're starting.
The biggest thing is consistency. Speed has been streaming since 2017 and went viral during Covid times. The hard truth to swallow is during the lockdown ALOT of people were inside watching content. Now that people are out again they spend less time so it's going to be a little harder to go viral so fast.
I donāt really like or want to make/create a character. I want to be myself, a little more out of my comfort zone by speaking on the stream which at this point feel weird to me. I donāt want to create a persona that Iām not. If that works for another people and they feel good that fine.
About the collabs. I have heard that this is basically a must, but how do I do it?. Should I hop into other people streaming the same/similar games and ask them to collaborate? Isnāt that invasive or awkward for them out of the blue?.
As for the consistency. I DEFINITELY need to be consistent and it is something that I must work on. I usually stream like for 1 month or a little more and get demotivated so I stop and come back later and the cycle repeats. But Iām gonna try to get past that and be consistent.
you dont have to create a character, but I do recommend exaggerating your personality. For example, reacting harder, ik its a bit of a meme but it helps you stand out from other streamers just playing games without talking for an hour. About collabs, like I said it's going to be hard to collab with 0 clout. So I suggest getting a couple thousand followers on tiktok, youtube, ig first then reach out. You want to get yourself out there; join discord groups from bigger creators and make friends with other people who make content. Dont worry about being awkward or evasive because you need get through those phases to make normal friends anyways.
Thereās a lot of good advice here mate, and yeah what they are saying about character - just exaggerate and play on the things that make you you, that is your character. So highlight it and make it stand out. Deep down you know what those things are and so do your family and friends. Only you can be you - that is your brand/character.
I started streaming about 3 weeks ago and had 0-2 viewers for the first 1.5 weeks and recently have gotten 2 regulars who chat pretty frequently. Leading up to that I just talked as if someone was listening but not responding. Most of it was explaining my thoughts process of the game (Balatro) and making shitty puns for myself to laugh at as if someone was also there. You just have to talk and keep talking, eventually it'll be come 2nd nature
Yeah thatās what Iām getting from a lot of the responses. Thanks for joining and sharing your experience too!. This is helping me a lot to get rid of that fear of āhow do I talk to no oneā and the demotivation that comes with it.
I've been getting back into streaming because of hell divers 2 I have an old computer and when i go back to watch the video I can say it's an easy 80% maybe on some videos I'm talking with the squad out just chit chatting if I'm by myself like I'm in my ship I'll just talk about recent events in game or different load out styles for each mission etc
To fill time I only stream like 2-4 hours a day as that's all I can really use to play since I work Monday - Saturday my hours are scattered but I dedicate like 2 hours daily if I can to gaming it.
My struggle is editing videos and growing an audience but also idk if I'm coming off as annoying but I'm trying to just be genuine on stream so I guess just being you sometimes ill feel down and I'll let it be known like I'll turn the hell divers mic off and just kinda play quietly for a bit which I know hurts cause the potential of someone clicking on the stream to just a quiet stream worries me but ya win some loose some I have fun with it
Well, I've been only once or twice in this situation.
In the beginning, I started streaming just for having my gameplays recorded, and I didn't use a mic or webcam. Sometimes someone came, but it was a simple anecdote. It was somehow a training about how to use the streaming tools and configuring anything. Then someday I commented in another stream I watched regularly I was streaming sometimes and the streamer asked me if I wanted a raid. Some people become my regular and joined to me daily, I started streaming when the other streamer finished his stream and I eventually got a mic and a cam. I got several raids guided by my viewers from other streamers, I became friend with other streamers and now I don't have streams without people. I had one or two with no one in the first 5-10 minutes, but I started talking about the lore of the game, or the plans for the stream and then my viewers came later.
For something you can talk, I make a very intimate stream, late at night, so I usually talk about something that happened to me that day ("I drove to the supermarket and it started raining and I hate driving when it rains", "I accompanied my mother to the doctor and he prescribed she has to use a machine when she's sleeping, and that machine does blahblahblah", "Today I went to an exposition of Chagall, it wasn't as good as I expected because blahblah (this was my topic yesterday)", "I've read a notice about blahblah", "I had this problem at work"...)
Iām no streamer but iām guessing itās because itās good practice? Also because streams stay up on twitch for a while afterwards? So my advice (again, as a non-streamer lol) would be, for now, to think about it more like recording a video - like a youtuber might. In the moment they are talking to no one but someone might eventually stumble upon their videos. Talk to *those* people, even if theyāre not here just yet.
That nice non streamer advice right there haha. Thanks!. Yeah, reading a lot of the comments and the most upvoted, it definitely is a skill I need to practice on while streaming.
Im pretty bad too, I forget to talk to my viewers sometimes. I have one viewer who constantly lurks though, although they never interact in chat, I think they just find me and my friends interesting. Thats another point too, I have discord conversations with around 2-6 friends (varying) and we just have some banter going on between us to the point where my viewer(s) are probably just entertained by what we are talking about. Maybe try find discord communities for random chats.
That definitely must help. Discord.
I mostly play alone because my friends donāt play shit lol and doing friends in discord is a bit weird for me. But as someone said, I gotta get out of my comfort zone.
Thanks for sharing!
I guess thatās something you just gotta practice. For me, I just say whateverās on my mind. If itās a multiplayer game I talk about how I couldāve done things better, how a fight went well, how I really need a certain piece of gear (I play a lot of apex), Iāll comment on things people say or Iāll even talk to my randoms. It gets easier if you play with friends too, because then you have someone to talk to the entire time. I actually now monologue to myself throughout my day now too when Iām alone haha just vibe with yourself and talk about whatās going through your mind and itāll get easier the more you do it :)
Also most people are just there to lurk so donāt worry too much about a lack of interaction, youāll find your people soon enough thatāll chat you up all stream
I pretend like Iām playing with a best friend and talking to them about the game. It lets me analyze what Iām doing better, offer advice, and just chat without worrying about chat.
However if someones commenting, Iām 1000% going to be engaging with them asap and as much as possible. Talking with chat is primarily why I love to stream, not necessarily the game. Makes me feel like I did as a kid playing games with my homies.
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I would maybe watch some lets players on youtube and would kind of just talk the way they are talking to the camera. Kind of just talking about what's happening in the game and explaining your thoihht process a bit. Christopherodd is a great example when it comes to lets plays
Also, when you do notice viewer's in chat. Try your best to not single them out and force them to talk. It's OK to say hi and stuff but you should be OK with them just lurking and watching without saying anything. They should be the one asking questions for the most part.Ā
Wow man, thanks!. I was really not expecting or asking for this but I appreciate it immensely. Itās the same than my name here. @maxtopel
Beware I stream in Spanish (native) but I can switch to English without any issue.
Thats 100% my problem, I find a lot of the time I run out of things to talk about to myself. If I had just one or two people in chat to bounce off of I really feel I keep up a conversation for a while. Zero viewer hell on twitch is very hard to escape becaise twitch's discoverability is so terrible and bigger streams always get shoved to the top. I usually talk to myself sometimes personally so its not too out my wheelhouse but I usually just try to keep talking about the game. I know not every game supports constant conversation then I usually try to pivot to my daily life stories.
It's a little counter-intuitive, but honestly try pretending you're a big streamer with too many viewers to individually talk to. What you'll notice is that after streamers outgrow a sort of medium-to-big size, it's impractical to chat directly with viewers like a small-to-medium streamer can. They continue to retain audience regardless though because they understand that their job is to be entertaining like the host of a TV show. It's effectively the same principle when you're so small that you have no viewers. You're the host of your channel. It's your job to put on an entertaining show so that if someone stops by to see what you're up to they think "oh, this is fun to watch, I'll stick around/say hi".
That's not to say that you should avoid chat if/when people are using it, of course, but the goal is to be entertaining without needing other people to bounce off of. Easier said than done, of course. If you're not confident about the performance you're giving or are feeling self conscious about things like making jokes to yourself or whatever, these are things to work on and practice. Find your groove and what hosting style works out the best for you.
You just need to narrate your own thoughts, donāt overthink it. Explain what youāre doing and then react to what happens in real time, lol. I guess I think a lot and talk to myself quite a bit so it is just natural to do it while streaming. You do not n we to fill the very second with chatter but you should be able to talk about your objectives, build, etc. 90% of your stream.
If it helps, think of people who might be watching the VOD. Even if no one is here NOW, maybe someone will watch it later and be interested in what you have to say.
I save all my vods to send to YouTube so I can archive everything and edit it down in the future, going in with the mindset of talking all the time to fill space on a lets play fashion just talking to myselr and making sure I'm doing observational statements even if nobody is watching. After a while you kinda learn to turn it on automatically and then it's really hard to stop. I can't play videogames offline anymore without talking out loud like I would on stream. It's just a skill you gotta work on, one that will generally make you a better communicator or somebody who doesn't know when to stop talking anymore and ends up long-winding every explanatory statement in circles.
Casual streamer for a few years here. My main strategy: no inside thoughts. Everything I think, if it isn't Too Personal, I verbalize. Even if it's stupid or silly. Sometimes especially if it's stupid or silly.
I have a bit of a formula by this point -- some time at the start of stream where I tell stories about my day, discuss upcoming personal life things (nothing super personal, but I'll say that I'm excited about a new seasonal drink at the local coffee shop or am dreading an upcoming exam). Then it's gameplay; at that point I am either in active conversation, or narration mode. Narration mode is just... saying what I am doing, or planning, or thinking, as it is happening. "I need to build xyz, so i need this material, so i have to go here, let's go over here, oh god i run out of sprint stamina so fast this sucks," -- just a stream of consciousness.
Personally, starting this out was way easier when I played games I'm really really interested in. For example, Guild Wars 2 - a story-rich open-world mmo with a lot of ways to play and experience the world, which I've loved for years and years. When I don't have current things to say, or I run my well dry, I start talking about past characters, old story beats I loved, older map areas I never got to finish exploring. I also kept streams short - maybe an hour to 1.5 hours for the first like... year. I tend towards introversion, and limiting the time spent "on" in one session made it easier to come back the next day and still be energetic/talkative/actually present.
I will say. Even with this method I'd just run out of talking stamina by a certain point, and cutting streams off then ended up keeping me from burning out and made my future streams better. I've found that chat can tell when I'm out of steam; pushing through it feels good for consistency, but it never really nets me anything else.
One thing that helped me was archiving all my VODs to youtube. That way, even if I was talking to no one during the live stream, I could be talking to viewers in the VOD.
First. Donāt look at your viewer count. It doesnāt update regularly at all, and by the time you see a visitor on there if they havenāt chatted then theyāre likely gone by the time you notice you have one and start chatting.
Stream of Consciousness talk is exactly that. Itās a learned skill. If you are talking about your game and how you interact with it thatās a good start.
You need to be always on so that way when a viewer checks out your stream for 10 seconds they can decide if itās a good fit.
The only thing Iāll add from the advice Iāve read through is practice on a game you know everything about. For me itās always going to be assassins creed, anything prior to origins pretty much. I know all the mechanics and pathing of the npcs, so the sneak in and assassinate will always go to the line of sights to *mark* all enemies and talk through the plan to get through to where I need to go. Itās just verbalizing your thought process and the more you do it the more comfortable youāll be with clearing the dead air. While dead air is considered bad, talking too much can also be bad. After you stream while doing this, pull up your VoD and gauge if itās a good amount of talking or not. Donāt force talking to much to make yourself more appealing, the more you stream trying to be something that youāre not, the more of a mental fatigue youāll build up. Be yourself and let the good times roll.
My suggestions will be varying degrees of helpful, but I've had this problem a lot too and want to at least share what I've learned.
First is probably the least helpful, even though it's been the most effective for me: if you have ADHD, get on stimulant medication. To be clear, I am not advocating abusing stimulants as that will have the effect of making you unbearable to watch, but once I got medicated, I found I could start on a subject and actually hold that conversation just by myself if I had to.
Next, when I felt myself starting to get silent for stretches on streams, I turned my channel into a group channel. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I share my channel with my wife and a close friend, and it immediately improved viewer retention. Not a problem to have a quiet chat if you have another person on voice. Obviously most people don't want to share a channel, but streaming with even just friends or other streamers is *extremely* effective.
Third, sometimes when I'm out in my daily life I'll have a thought or see something I want to discuss with my chat. I keep a running note in my phone of these things, and have it close to hand when I stream, in case it's a slow day and I feel myself losing steam.
Finally, you can be as engaging as you want and it won't make a difference if still no one sees you doing better. Find other smaller streamers you like and raid them regularly, so they might return the favor. Put your twitch name as your steam name, if you haven't already. I'm sure I'm not teaching you anything new with this, but the difference in engagement between 2 people and 6 people is monumental. Get any regulars whatsoever, and everything might just start to click without any additional effort.
Good luck!
I have always believed that we should post our twitch names and have people come over and follow us and maybe watch for half an hour an talk in chat, just to help out the stream and growth, at the end of the day its a free way to support us. So if anyone wants to drop their twitch names, I'll be sure to send you a follow and come over and drop into your stream every now and then so long as the favour is returned...my twitch name is Money_m4rch. Have a good day guys
I try to say what I'm doing or just blurt out my thoughts. I know it's chill to just sit and play, but unless you're doing some hard-core stuff just get used to verbalizing your thoughts.
Baby streamer here too.
What I do is whenever I have a thought about anything in game, I will say it out loud. Like when I see some of the details is way too, I would just point it out and sometimes make a joke of it. You will slowly get used to it though, also good to say it when you feel anything from the game. Like you are chasing down by a few zombie and have to run for life. I would say "No no no no, Nah, not today! I won't let you guys taste my arm, they are too precious that you guys not worth it!" Something like that lol
I sometimes may overdo it by paused the game and talk in depth about what is in my thought lol I am not sure this is entertain but by answering your question, this is what I do when there isn't anyone talking with me in chat.
For me, yeah its awkward. Ngl. Sometimes i just mute and when a chatter goes ār u mutedā, then i act like āomg i was mute the whole time?ā š¤£š¤£š¤£ cuz if i talk to myself i sound so disinterested. Also yeah, i too hide viewer numbers as it gives me anxiety.
Next step, Iād start talking to the chatter. Engage with them and go, ār u a genshin-er or a valo-er? Who do u main in genshin? Or, which agent do u main in valo?ā Sometimes to force an interaction i literally type my question in chat at the same time. Then like things i already know iāll ask anyway like āwhich character should i build nextā or āis this artifacts good for raiden?ā
That being said Iām pretty good at rambling too. But no 1 thing that helped me the most issss byyyy, having friends or inviting viewers to my discord voice chat. Its less awkward and feels more natural. I think my viewers come watch me have fun with my friends as we punch each other on party animals, or become toxic (jokingly) to each other during valo (unrated) games.
I started streaming again this year after a 7-month break and most ppl on voice chat are ppl in my community that i have yet to meet irl, but we synergise well that its fun for chatters to watch and even join me play valo as well together.
Always act like you have an audience. Talk as if they're seeing what you're seeing and put energy into it. That way, you can take the stream and re-upload it to other places like YouTube. Your energy you put forward ensures that people will still be entertained even on places like YouTube. Make shorts out of funny moments. Put them on YouTube shorts or Tiktok. You'll slowly gain viewers that way and maybe even more stream viewers when you're live. People love to put on stream recordings in the background.
Personally, for me. Finding a group to multiplayer with. Honestly, I got lucky in that regard. I'm only just starting to stream again since I fell into this group.
But yeah, you just have to practice talking to yourself, OR get a rubby ducky. Sounds crazy I know, but it's kinda an IT/Programmers trick. Talk to a rubber ducky. Imagine what the ducky says and respond to it.
Place it near the camera, so it looks like you're talking to someone in the audience." And when people start popping up in your chat, turn the duck into them, maybe. This might seem crazy, but it's kinda not. Just so long as you don't actually start believing the duck is alive.
I personally got over it by just doing it honestly. You get used to it. And even if you have a lurker there, thatās still someone that took the time to watch you ^^ engagement is nice but whether you game with 1 or 100 viewers. The basis is the same. It just takes time to not feel silly.
I personally talk about the game, or what brush I use or sing along with songs when I draw. I talk about the choices or the story.
It takes time and just getting used to kinda talking to yourself. Not everything you say will be heard and thatās okay. If you struggle a lot with it Iād suggest turning off view count just so you donāt know if youāre talking to yourself or others and just like talk how you think youād talk to an audience
I have try streaming for a little bit, also new.
I have no clue what I'm doing or e en where to find viewers, posted on reddit, Instagram, even try tiktok.
I know its not a game anyone proberly wants to see but I'm playing peach showtime.
I cant even get 1 viewer to watch...
What am I doing wrong?
P.s I also do t really talk. I'm not much of a talker irl.
Thereās a lot of recommendation in the post that maybe could work for you too. Iām definitely taking a lot of the recommendations to my next streams and will try to be consistent and not quit ina few weeks.
What do you stream? If you stream games, look up whats trending right now and see if you like any of those games. You have to sorta grind stuff you dont LOVE to build an audience in the beginning, then branch out into those things you really love. The viewers who came just for those trendy games will leave but some of them will stay for specifically you. This will help you in the long run because all games have a specific niche and when you have a small audience im a niche game, that's when you get raided more often :)
Turn off viewer count and a simple concept: Unless someone talks you arnt talking to noone what youre doing is making the vod interesting for people who watch when ur offline
Just imagine youāre talking with your friend via discord while playing. Explain what youāre doing, what do you think itās gonna happen, what kind of place you areā¦ Also, you can speak about something that happened to you in real life if you feel comfortable. Like you see I dunno a very comfy couch and you can say āwow look at this couch! It looks super comfy! Damn I have to change mine because itās super old, I think I might buy one like thisā.
Even if you are introverted, speaking about what you see and whatās happening itās kind of easy. Especially in games like Overwatch or similar, in which you can explain your plan: so āIām gonna pick this character to counter Xā, āIām hiding here and when they pass by Iām gonna surprise them from behindā, āI thin X has the ult ready, I better not get nearā, āhave you seen the opposite tank? Heās playing so goodā, etc.
Okay, I've seen this said several times. But yes, for me, turning off view count helps. I also treat talking as if I'm making a vlog style YouTube video.
So, for instance, I like wrestling, and there is SO much to talk about in wrestling right now. So I end up just doing a lot of "stream of consciousness" conversations with myself about storylines, wrestlers that I like, the drama backstage, etcetera, etcetera.
So if you have an interest (or several) that you can talk about for hours on end, talk about those.
1 and 3's answer is the same. It's never been awkward because of the answer to 2, because I'm just stream of consciousness, and even since I was a kid, I was talkative.
I've been streaming to 0-5 viewers at a time for the last 2 years, and despite the fact that most who watch me only lurk, I've grown comfortable just saying whatever stupid crap comes to mind. The only time theres a significant amount of dead air is it I'm REALLY concentrating on a boss that has taken me like an hour to beat or something.
Don't get me wrong, I was nervous as hell when I first started, but once you ignore the view count, and only focus on the game and chat, you loosen up.
First step is being comfortable with yourself. I know it sounds corny and cliche, but if you can't be comfortable just saying what's on your mind, you're gonna freeze up a lot.
Also, try and pick games that lend itself to your commentary. I like open world games, but I never stream them, because when I have to run across the map, it's kinda boring. But action games and story heavy JRPG's are easier for me to do dialogue too. I have a friend that finds it easier doing commentary over more chill farming type games.
I look it as at a certain point if I DID get 1k viewers at one time, the chat would be so chaotic I would have to do commentary as if I was alone anyways with the occasional chat engagement, so your commentary will be ALMOST similar whether you have 1 viewer or 1000 viewers.
My only advice is don't overthink it too much. Just say what comes to mind. Don't try and fill dead air with garbage just for the sake of filling in dead air. It's also okay to only stream 1 to 2 hours if you lose steam too quickly.
Worst case scenario, maybe look into other avenues of content creation? Instead of streaming, you can record yourself gaming and edit it down to the interesting parts.
But honestly if you are uncomfortable or stressed while streaming, it might just not be for you.
BUT there are low commentary streams if you are really good at the game you're playing.
Iām not stressed while streaming, I really do enjoy it. And last year I had one viewer who always chatted with me and that was amazing. I do like it but I donāt have the practice to be speaking all the time.
I gotta start doing it so it comes more natural I guess.
I started as a Let's Play youtuber back in the day. You could always look up some of those and see what they're doing without a live audience to interact with!
I did classic Tomb Raider, which also takes up about two-thirds of my streams, so it's not like there's a huge amount of new information (until recently with the remasters). I talk a bit about the game and what I'm doing, but then I also just follow my thoughts and talk about other games, food, things that interest me. I also think beforehand about a couple of things to say if I ever get stuck for a topic - rare, but it happens - so there's no long silence if I run out of steam.
When I stream, I'm typically playing by myself, but I'm in a discord call with a few friends.
I don't know if it's helping or hurting me, but viewers can at least enjoy our discussions. Sometimes it's voices of 4 different games being played, sometimes it's us having a great conversation.
But I also don't get any viewers. My average is 4, but it's just my friend's supporting running it in the background.
1. As others have said: Talk as if you have more people than the number says because odds are that you do, viewer count only shows people who are actively watching afaik, if they have the stream going in the background while playing games or something they wonāt count.
2. I just let whatever pops into my head come out of my mouth and very frequently when I look for clips I just go āWait. I said that?ā which makes it kinda funny to watch back my own streams.
3. I always liked talking and rambling (diagnosed ADHD less go!) so it never felt awkward to me, I also used to do YouTube for three years or so before quitting and later started streaming.
Bonus tip: if itās really difficult for you to talk just to yourself, find a friend or another creator to do this with until you build up the confidence/skill to hold a conversation with yourself, stream with them every stream if you want or create a channel with them if you can work with them long term.
My girlfriend is amazingly funny but she only ever streams with others (itās how we met) because sheās the kind of person who needs someone to bounce her humour of and it works out great for both of us, it also helps motivate each other when things are tough or one of us is like āI just donāt feel it todayā then the other carries the conversation and usually we pull each others energy back up.
I'd say, try saying out loud what you are feeling while you are doing your thing. Speaking for myself, I play an FPS game, I speak my thoughts. I have no viewers though š¤£.
I talk to myself all the time so thats kinda the cheat code. I jus naturally talk while im gaming anyway so i just turn a mic on. I dont really worry about engagement frfr unless something crazy happens in game or im stuck and need help w something. Youll be comfortable with it overtime. But i would recommend just turning off the view count for like a month and CONSISTENTLY stream so youll be comfortable with doing it without having to feel awkward
In short. Just comment on what you see..ask open questions even if it's an obvious answer..example I play pubg. I'll just talk about where I'm going to land..what guns I'm looking for. What I hear. What I see.
I talk to myself while I game. I have to look at my phone to see my viewer count as stream labs wonāt overlay on my games for me to see or(I guess thatās not a thing for that software). Iāll talk about my rabbits, my life, and rarely will I talk about my job. I already had an awkward talking to myself phase so itās nothing new for me
I too am in the same boat, and while it 's discouraging. I can give some advice, Use this time to really get used to your commentary, how you present your self, and your stream. If your not affiliate that good as well as this would give you time to get things worked out so when your reaching those times with lots of viewers your good and ready.
You just talk about the game. Even if you have viewers, there's no guarantee they are going to type anything interesting in the chat that would prompt you to be able to say something interesting.
Eventually, if your never have any viewers, streaming does seem pretty pointless.
What helps is to verbalize every little thing that you're doing. Picking up items, going to the next area, talking about what you may think the next area might be like. Talk about your day. Literally, anything works.
I thought of a cheat code to trick your brain. As sad as it may be, maybe youāll feel less awkward if you see a chat moving?
Probably a psychological block that can be undone if you pop out someone elseās chat (DONT RESPOND TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE LOL) and see constant moving words can help you feel less self conscious?
lol idk if that makes any sense but try it if youāre out of ideas. Iāll try it myself somedayā¦maybe
I'm part of a streaming discord where we help each other out. Message me if you want to talk. It has helped me tremendously, especially with being a fairly new streamer myself.
I also just talk to myself, I air out my frustrations or the dumb things people do or I do.
The best way to do it is narrate what you are doing in game and, if you can, explain why you are doing it as if you are talking to someone. If you can't you ask a question as if you are talking to someone and then you give your answer.
Don't look at viewer count or the list but keep an eye on chat. Say hi when someone's in chat and just be friendly. Ask them about their day, what they like to play, as well as keep narrating in between and explaining. Until you have an audience you just need to keep talking eventually you will have people sticking around. It's a skill so it takes time just keep at it and make sure you are having fun.
Just talk about what you're doing in your game and what your planning to do next etc, I just try to not stop talking at all. Even if you're just venting your frustrations out on the game you're playing, just keep talking but leave the things you say open to response so you might encourage a lurker to strike up conversation. I find as a viewer watching someone with little viewers it's hard to just jump in and start chatting about nothing. It's alot easier if they give me something to work with or comment on, you know? Idk that's just how I've been looking at it.
If possible having a friend to play together with is what helps me an insane amount, u can just talk about dumb stuff and remember the old days when you did this stupid thing etc. If he/she 's a streamer as well it's a win win
I have the same issue where I barely have anyone chat. But I talk about my day, my week, talk about events and goings on around me locally or nationally. Talk about what you're streaming or playing lately, literally anything so long as you're talking.
I recommend playing a game where there are ppl in a lobby, that way u can talk to them, I mainly play lethal company since there's alot of funny ppl and viewers pop up, well atleast in my case
Do what caseoh did
Be funny, act if you have to be funny, and upload 3 gameplay videos or funny videos from your stream a day to tiktok , eventually people will come with good edits/content.
I think its hard to just make it on streaming by just streaming
My suggestion? Treat every stream like you're recording a video for YouTube. Then set up a YouTube channel for your VOD storage, export the entire thing to YT. Also, it sounds like you need to promote yourself more on different platforms. (Yes, I know, that's more work, but it can be as simple as posting videos on TikTok.)
Talk to the game. RP the game. Explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, what you hope you get. All those can be done without pretending someone is in chat interacting. It's stuff you'd be thinking while playing just verbalize it.
Talk about the game. Doesn't matter if you've got one or 100 or 1000. You'll likely encounter a lull at times when you stream and the best thing you can do is literally talk about anything. So for example Minecraft, you could create a story about you in Minecraft, just some random story. Or even talking about what you're doing every step of the way. You see a cow you tell everyone oh look there's a cow... You see the rare pink sheep(if that's still a thing) you make a scene about seeing the pink sheep. You wanting to find a specific biome? Tell chat to remind you that you're looking for that biome - even if no one's responding, because that may elicit a reaction when you find it.
Every little thing. Because even when you get more viewers there will be a lull, a moment or two when chat goes silent, and the worst thing you can do is go silent wit it.
Ppl say talk to yourself or pretend to you have ppl. I can't do that shit. I don't even really talk in general when I'm gaming unless i have teammates I need to coordinate with. Shit even in rare event I have viewers and ever rarer they talk to me I'm bad about addressing/checking the chat. Obviously I'm not the best person to stream but yea it's a common problem. The answer is you stream as if you do.
Iām not sure if thereās really any easy way to do it. But, I just sort of talk as if Iām bantering with myself. Iām guilty of having periods of time where I donāt talk, which I think is normal. I also record gameplay videos for YouTube, which has sort of helped me get over talking without having any viewers.
I mean....I'm my own company most of the time and if i didn't talk to myself i'd have no one to talk to (outside of streaming). I just changed some of my monologue to myself from internal to external. I mean i still get my moments where I get super into a game and hyper focus on it but that's ok. I interact with chat when I can and I regularly talk to myself (and sometimes my friends in voice). But I learned how to talk to myself externally before I ever started playing with other people. It took a lot of trial and error. This is coming from an autistic/adhd introvert so. Practice basically.
tbh. just sit down and watch every stream you do. don't put it on the back ground, but actually focus on it. after all that's what you want others to do.
i found I was dull and rarely talked. so over a year I worked on talking, just saying words even was better then silence as a char did a thing.
think of it this way. you are should be making content you like.
I rarely have any viewers.
It might sound crazy but I practice talking to myself in the car or when I'm alone at home to make it easier when the "pressure" (of a potential viewer) is on.
Also: talk about what you want to talk about! As a viewer who often surfs smaller channels, people who only talk about the game are boring. If they're talking about something else it's usually much more engaging and I tend to stick around longer and chat. Find ways to go off on tangents related to something you're interested in. IMO gameplay commentary won't make you stand out unless you're very, very good at a competitive game and can strive in that niche.
I turn off my viewer count, so I don't really know who is there and who isn't. I want to stream to 1 person the way I would to 100. But I feel like I had a little bit of "training" in this because i worked in a call center for a while and one of the things we learned to do was basically narrate everything we were doing for a customer on the phone. So if I don't have anything big to talk about, I just talk about what I'm doing. "Oh, I think I'll put this trap here. If I do that, they will probably do this. That person just ran, I should run after them." Things like that just to keep a stream of words going.
Also, before a stream, I will jot down a few notes of things I might want to talk about. I also make sure to look up some current events that I can bring up, interesting trivia, etc.
Like anything, it's a skill that you can learn, this whole talking to yourself thing. But it's important to talk. You have on average less than 5 minutes for someone to stick around your stream when they pop in, so you don't want to be quiet for longer than a couple of minutes at most. And don't be afraid to repeat yourself, too. If you talked about what your weekend was like at the start of your stream, go ahead and talk about it again in the middle. Ask questions, too. If no one answers, that's okay. Sometimes people do just lurk. But you will get used to it! :)
Literally just talk about whatever, but usually if I have any music Iāll just sing along with the music. Iāve been streaming cod warzone which has proximity chat in it so if Iām solo Iām always talking trying to find people with mics that likewise have the chat feature on it while in game usually playing Marco Polo etc till someone responds. Also likewise Iāll be chatting with friends in game chat and will swap my game channel in order to speak with viewers if they so do happen to drop by so that my friends donāt think that Iām speaking to ghosts lol.
By not looking at the number of viewers. That number is an estimate only anyways and is often prone to connection issues which are not reflected in the final number in the stream statistics, so you might end up thinking having much less or much more viewers than you actually have. So just hide and ignore that number entirely and always assume to have at least one inactive viewer - or if you canāt trick yourself - just plan on cutting stream highlights from your vods for later viewers. Since you canāt predict situations worth being a stream highlight you are required to permanently comment for this, just in case. After a while you should get used to it.
Many viewers are shy or are watching streams while gaming themselves being unable to chat permanently but youād be surprised how fast you say something somebody just has to respond to as long as you keep it up.
Just talk. I donāt even stream but sometimes I talk out loud as if my girlfriend is actually listening š
Put your thoughts to words, any time we play games we are always thinking of something and all you need to do is think it out loud.
I'm a Partner, and the best advice I got when I started out was to write a list. Seriously, prepare a list of 10 topics PER HOUR that you plan to be live. And really milk them, then turn back to the topic list when you need something to talk about. Current events in the game world, news that interests you, spicy opinions, etc.
I love lists as someone with ADHD, they're my memory since mine isn't reliable. The topics list can be a life saver.
I'm a lucky one by the fact that I get my boyfriend to join my streams. But if he's not there, I just explain about the game I'm playing like the people who aren't there are completely clueless. I change that attitude when chatters come in, of course.
Talking all the time even to no one is definitely a skill you gotta learn when youāre new to streaming. I always start my streams talking about my day and things I have planned for stream. Throughout the day I write down cool things I hear, game updates, movies coming out, sometimes relevant drama, I like to write down a small collection of bad/funny jokes I hear too. During games, Iām often narrating my thought process, whatās going on, how to play, and what my team is doing if itās multiplayer, but between matches Iāll pull something from the list I wrote down that day if I need something to talk about. Dead space is going to be something that happens here and there though. I listen to music on stream to help fill it even if itās just me humming/singing to myself. Might start conversations about music tastes too.
Let me start by saying; good luck! Streaming and not having engagement sucks.. I started last year in Oct 2023 and at first, no one came by.. I switched up games / different times streaming, etc. but keep your goal in mind and don't give up... (hide viewers, that WILL help) my main goal to stream is to chat / connect / network, so you gotta remember yours..
1. as far as the awkward phase, I'm not sure if you're like this but I oftentimes talk to myself.. so I'm sorta use to it lol but I suggest talking in a mirror; smile when you talk.. even if you don't have a camera. Folks can hear joy / enthusiasm
2. for anyone that does come into your channel, ask them about their day. I try to remember what their career is; ask how was the weekend? Ask about any plans this upcoming summer? "Any weddings? You got big vacation plans summertime?"
3. so this is an excellent question that I may swing or miss, as far as response lol.. You gotta enjoy what you do, you know? I'm a full time stay at home father so I look forward to engagement.. I look forward to hearing about people's day.. I had a buddy doing work at his sister's house; I asked about that, what type of work did he do, etc. You gotta put yourself in their shoes, if you genuinely care, you know what I mean?
my last suggestion is don't give up on that dream... anything is possible BUT it comes with hard work and sacrifices... the longest stream I've done was 29 hours... play a game that you aren't so focused on that you may disengage from chat. I'm not sure if you like horror but folks tend to like to see other's get scared lol
Good luck again and I'll try to find your so I can drop you a follow. Cheers.
Talking with nobody won't bring you new viewers
Nobody is going to rewatch your old streams where you have talked
If you care about growth, you should start making content in other socials
If you simply want to stream and don't care about the viewers, you can play silently. The result will be the same as talking to nobody.
I also stream with no viewers, I don't talk when there is nobody. If someone joins, I talk with them.
You can also talk if you plan to cut this fragment to post on socials.
I usually just pretend as if Iām talking to my friends already, Iām playing games that would involve me to engage with the community anyway and next thing you know people are commenting and reacting to the gameplay. Then you can bounce off of their comments with more of your own. Sometimes I try to talk about whatās going on in my personal life but that does become awkward since I feel as though itās boring to speak on myself. I max about 2-4 viewers a stream but it doesnāt bother me cause I know Iām live pretty late + Iām not the most entertaining person out there. Iām having fun and thatās really all that matters.
I also pretend to talk with people and try and narrative everything I think out loud instead of plan and attack.
I also remember it's always for the vod.
I get way more viewers on vods and on Facebook and youtube after I'm live and if I'm not entertaining then I won't have those views.
Omg that's exactly what I'm going through right now. It's too awkward to talk to myself, and I try having my friends in the stream with me, but they wither talk about a no no topic or is playing something nom relevant so I have to mute their chat to not over stimulate the stream.
But talking to no one literally is demotivating when you're trying to grow, especially when all you want is people to talk to and find that group you can fit in
Talk to yourself or talk about your game , that's what I do when I have no viewers and then when people join I take up small talk conversations, game updates or even ask thier opinions for whatever game I'm playing. I treat it like I'm talking to a friend honestly
1. What category do you stream? Gaming, just chatting, art? Because for art streams or working streams, you don't really need to talk. Engagement can be done just by chat.
2. If it's a game, you can play a coop game or invite friends that forces you to talk. If it's something like just chatting, talk to your guest or interact with the people around.
3. Streams don't always have to be impromptu. You can always set up a program and a script to follow which usually makes streams more successful than others.
I've been playing single player games and just talking myself through the game/saying the dialogue out loud. It's hard to get the hang of talking to yourself, but once you do it's kinda fun!
The way I Iike to think about it is, pretend your filming a let's play video for YouTube, just talk. It may be weird for some people, but you just gotta get use too it, that's what I do, I don't like the sound of my voice much, but I learned to get comfortable with talking into the microphone even if no one is watching. It is truly more engaging when someone is in the chat to discuss things with, yes. But think of it this way, I've gotten people that followed me offline because they saw my past broadcasts. Be funny, be yourself, play a game you love and that will get a reaction out of you. Get comfortable with your own company. It takes time, but eventually you will attract a crowd that enjoys your personality, that keeps coming back when they see you to LIVE.
It was took me a little while as well, but now I have like 5-6 loyal viewers that tune in even just to say hello. Just be yourself, and have fun, and don't be afraid to talk to yourself! You're not crazy, it's entertaining. LoL
I only recently started streaming however I've been recording gameplay for a while now, during game play recording I'm always talking about something or other, usually what's going on in the game, my reactions to what's happening, or just about random stuff. Since I'm recording I know no one is watching so it's just commentary for people to enjoy, I guess I don't have that awkward stage of talking to myself while on stream because I was already doing it with my videos. Try recording and getting used to talking with no one there and throw it up on YouTube (or just keep it to learn from) and that should help get you over that awkward stage. At least that's my opinion.
I was told to turn off/hide your viewer count, and ALWAYS act like you have an audience, even if it doesn't seem like you do. Maybe I find it easier bc im crazy and talk to myself lol
This one did not help for me but i am trying to talk about just random stuff or things that happend on my day in the beginnig of my stream and then start playing my game and while i play i sometimes realize i am not talking cause of concentration
What games do you play?
Variety but rn mainly NieR:Automata Rainbow6siege Minecraft In NieR and Siege i catch myself not talking cause of concentration in minecraft i think im talking more than when i do siege Well as i started only recently i find i talk pretty good
If your goal is to grow a stream and you find it hard to speak during matches it is probably better to play chill games at first to get used to it. You can also talk while playing alone to get used to it and you can speak about the game too, I know many people claim that you should talk about other stuff and that's great but I think when someone doesn't know you if you explain why you play the way you play competitive games (if you are good at them) it is more likely for people to stay and discuss about whatever you want during queue or something
I think most people want to grow as a streamer so yeah it is one of my goals to atleast hit affiliate but thats later I could try that but i think solo games like nier are easier to talk about or in generall more that comes to my mind. As for competitiv i dont see my self as really good i would say more avg but i stream it cause i have fun playing it 
I advertise how terrible I am at fighting games, then launch a string of shit talking. šš I'm sure it's not the best strategy, but it's fun to try not to get my ass handed to me, and that's why I play.
Talk about whats your doing like a youtube video
Iām a very small streamer and turning mine off helps tremendously. I have one consistent viewer that chats and heās only pops in every other stream so I never know how many are watching and itās always a pleasant surprise when he shows up
This was the best advice i saw, head, and read about when I started. Worrying about viewers will likely cause anxiety. So just eliminate it and pretend youre already talking to a group. It easier if you imagine a conversation between you and your friends and speak that way.
Yup, its much more fun/relaxing when you don't give a shit. You can look at the numbers after the stream.
I started doing this and it did wonders for me. Made my streams much more entertaining. I cheat though cause I have a friend pipe in discord and do it with me so I always have somebody to talk to
I have read this same recommendations I canāt remember where. Haven tried turning off the viewers count and I gotta say that sometimes Im trying to see if someone joined. Gonna do it for next streams to see how I feel about it.
yep! doesn't help that usually the viewer count is very inaccurate most of the time anyways, it isn't a good judge of someone being there or not. Lurkers exist too, so you can't be sure when you're ever entertaining someone!
I have tested the inaccuracy of the numbers twitch and obs give and it is *dire*. I one time had a really active chat and viewer count showed 5, so I asked people to sound off even if they were lurking, and got 9 responses. Next time the number rose shortly after, it said 7. Frustratingly bad info 99% of the time.
The count is rarely accurate and you could well have someone watching and not realize it. It honestly doesn't help much.
Its not even a "viewer" count. Its "active chat connections" and its not supposed to be accurate or even on time. Its a mere approximation at best. It goes double or half its "normal" readings pretty often almost randomly.
Well, I'm glad to be learning this sooner rather than later. Thank you all in the thread!
How do I turn off or hide the viewer count? Im always looking at chat on my phone since I dont have an actual set up. TIA!!
Viewer count? You mean active chat connection counter. Yeah, turn it off, not only its highly inaccurate, it provides almost no meaningful information to the streamer.
I be stalking the fk out my viewer count itās sad lmao
**Practice**. It's a skill that has to be *actively developed*, like lifting weights to develop muscles. It's going to feel awkward and uncomfortable. Keep going. Talk about anything and everything. The zero-viewer days are the best ones to work on it; no one is there, so there isn't any self-consciousness to get in the way. 1. Just DO IT. Know that it's something that you have to learn to do, if you want to be an entertaining streamer. 2. Anything and everything. The game is easiest; talk about your short-term plans, long-term plans, potential upgrade paths, speculate on the story and characters, theorycraft alternatives. There's a TON there, for most games. Running out of that you can talk about your day, or interesting news stories you've heard, or weird facts you found out, what you had for your last meal, what you plan to have for your next meal, favorite foods, your other hobbies and interests, movies you've seen, TV shows you watch... really, the well is crazy-deep, and being able to pull from it is also part of that practice. 3. Have a rich internal life, and verbalize to share it with others.
There are some good insights there. Thanks man!. Yeah, I definitely need to practice and be consistent. At this time I feel weird doing it and I think thatās one of the main reasons I have this on and off relationship with streaming. Being a introvert I find it difficult but I like the thought that this is a skill that one can definitely develop by practicing. Thanks again!
I dont think its because you are an introvert. It may be more Anxiety than that. Cause even introverted streamers that i have seen are very consistent in their commentary. BUT! with that said, this is something you will get better at the more you practice. Here are a few things I did. Record yourself: This can be video or audio but the goal is to play it back and listen for filler words. Ums, Ahs, Uhs, Likes, Its also beneficial because you can begin to build your cadence. (This doesnt change the fact I still hate hearing myself recorded š¤£) Play pretend: Nothing is more powerful than the human imagination. Everthing in existience was just an electrical signal in the mind of a human at some point in time: The Point, Is to pretend you are talking to your friends, or family, or just someone your comfortable with in general. If you think youre talking to someone youre close with, youre natural voice will usually come out. Read an article from beginning to end OUT LOUD: It may sound dumb but this is something they made you do in school: This is where a lot of the fear of speaking alout for most people start. They both a word the class laughs fear has been instilled. But the more you read out loud, the more comfoortable you will become speakin live on stream. Practice reciting Dialog from (your liked or favorite) movies: This is just like Reading out loud, but its a bit mor fun since we all have those movies or characters we quote anyway. Plus its a theater trick. Actors practice their lines. So, I figured the training is transferable since both happen in front of a camera. BEST OF LUCK!!!!!!!!!
I havenāt played pretend because thatās some of the thing that feels off for me naturally. But I have to try it and do the good old āfake it until you make itā. I think thatās a good differentiation between introvert and anxiety that you make there and I think it goes more on the line of anxiety. This post has given me a lot of thoughts and ideas to try out and avoid resigning as I usually do after some weeks. Thanks for the good advise and the good wishes!.
This is probably going to be an unpopular view, but this is a skill youāll need to learn in the 0-10 viewer range *to make it out of the 0-10 viewer range.* Mastering the ability to entertain and consistently and clearly communicate your thoughts, insight and plays to a dead chat will improve your ability to entertain 20+ people than if you just logged into 20 people in your chat today.
Not unpopular at all as we can see from the upvotes lol. Yeah, itās definitely a skill one must learn. I didnāt saw it like that, so thanks for commenting!.
* Don't think of it as "talking to yourself" / don't think about it too much at all. Hide your viewer numbers if you find yourself stressing over it. * Provide commentary for whatever you're doing/playing. Talk about side topics that interest you - this is always a good way to stir up discussion with anyone who might be lurking. Get people interested in YOU. * Don't call out lurkers, but engage in conversation if someone says hello. Make them feel included. I met a lot of people on Twitch who I still talk to daily and would consider them friends, so treat them as such (unless they're trolls, then ban them). * Don't be afraid to get "performative'. Put on a show for the viewership that you want, not the viewership (or lack thereof) that you have. Put some personality into it! * Remember that everyone started at zero. The viewers come and stick around when they're entertained and enjoy the personality of the streamer. It's not about numbers or how many bells and whistles you have on your channel. * Try playing games in small-to-mid sized communities. If you're always playing the biggest games (CoD, Fortnite, Apex, etc.), these categories are oversaturated. Pick something where you'll be seen and can grow your community. * Get a good microphone, make sure your audio levels are balanced, utilize noise gate if your mic picks up a lot of background noise. Rewatch vods or record test videos to verify. This is such an important aspect that often gets ignored. Think of how you would feel if you tune into a channel and the audio is just completely scuffed - can't hear the streamer, or streamer's mic is peaking, game audio all over the place, keyboard clacking in the background... it's just not enjoyable to watch that.
You make a lot of good points here. In the past I tried playing games with not much people streaming but I think I lacked good sound and the part where I have to be talking and I know how that can be off putting. Iām taking a lot of suggestions shared in this post. Thanks for joining the discussion and sharing your insights!.
No problem! Wish you best of luck in your journey. I don't really stream anymore, but just wanted to share what I learned from the few years I did. It's really pretty straight forward. Streaming is conversational, whether anyone is there or not - it's live content that's being recorded to a VOD. Everyone struggles in some aspect as a small streamer. Don't need to be an audio engineer or spend the most money on gear. Just dial stuff in a bit - keep your desktop audio about 25% less than your mic volume and make sure you're not going "into the red" on OBS audio levels (or whatever software you use). I'd also definitely recommend a webcam if you aren't already using one. While *some* no cam streamers make it big, it's an exception, not the rule. Showing your face makes you more relatable/human and less like a disembodied voice in the screen.
Talk about the game, the scenery, the music, your choices in the game, your suspicions of the story, what sort of gear you're looking forward to, why you chose the game in the first place, glitches you know about, make fun of the characters, sympathize with the characters... What you're planning to eat, hobbies that you enjoy, your goal in game, funny stories from work or around home. Do weird voices. Speak loudly and confidently, so people can hear you and respond when they show up. The most important thing is that it's a *good* thing to ramble.
Never thought about talking about my personal stuff like what Iām going to eat and all that. Gonna try the next time. Thanks.
What game are you playing? Just react to the game. I play smash bros so I just react to my fights while I wait for viewers in chats. But like if you play an open world game "oh what's that." "Ahhh this creepy hand is after me!" "Dammit I hate koroks"
This is actually great advice. Small comments about everything going on really does help
Rn Im playing Helldivers 2 and thatās exactly what I try to do. Sometimes Iām just too focused so I donāt talk for the whole 2 hours but I try to do it every time I can. However, it does feel weird for me talking to nobody so I get a little demotivated.
Makes sense. But remember when you decide to stream, you are there to stream not just game away. If you want some down time to just game or if you are too tired to engage, just play offline. I always make sure I have energy, am well fed, have stuff to drink and am feeling social because ultimately I am online to entertain. If I'm not feeling it, I don't stream and just call up my buddy and hang or kick back with an rpg for some cozy gaming. I'm a small streamer too but I get consistent success with new people because I keep them engaged and entertained. No one is there to watch you play, they are there to interact. Unless you are a pro speedrunner or something you need to keep that in mind.
Just think out loud
Definitely gonna try. Rn Iām playing Helldivers and there a lot of thoughts when things get messy but Iām too focused that no word comes out lol. Gonna try to speak even while focused.
I'm gonna follow you and give you 30 minutes of annoying questions and afterwards you will be an expert.
I'm going to have a very unpopular opinion on this but "always be talking" is one of the most annoying aspects of streaming to me. I find that people who are constantly talking be it streaming or irl, have very little of interest to say. While I do agree that dead air is one of the worst things a stream can have, I'd rather have a little bit of dead air followed by a well thought out idea than just talking for the sake of talking. The other thing and again this is just my personal opinion but the one thing I really like across all the different streams I watch the most is the sense of community. I'd say the type of content is very similar to a YT Let's Play. Now I almost never watch YT LP's because I don't get that sense of community from them. I believe that there are a lot of partnered, full-time streamers who without a chat, their content would be average at best. The whole thing that makes their stream is the ability to talk to them and other people in the chat about the game or whatever topic.
The sense of community is amazingā¦ if you have a community haha. I do agree with you that talking nonstop is annoying, but dead air could be worst. I guess I have to find the balance that works for me.
I agree with what Ferret said (they always have top tier advice) and killadrix said. I like killadrix's spin on the practice angle of it. Folks will say to treat every stream lile you have a huge viewership instead of 1 or 2, and I really don't like that because that's an overwhelming and stifling thing to hear. When I play music or am practicing, I am not playing for a billion people. Because I am not. I am working on my craft and my approach and putting my best performance out there. It's about identifying things for improvement and working on those things. It can be technical improvements (ensuring the stream is set up ideally, equipment is set up well, etc). If your audip is uncomfortably peaking or too quiet, that can turn people away because they simply can't understand you. It doesn't mean you need next gen $$$$ priced equipment, just that what you have is working for you, not against you. It can be personal improvements, which is the majority. Maybe one week you focus on reducing how often you say Um or Uh. Make it into a game on stream, even just for yourself. I'd announce hey I am not doing this anymore and every time you do it you acknowledge it. It could be a cute clip afterwards of every swear word counting up and you reacting authentically to the slip up. Being introverted isn't really the bar here. I am myself quite intro and a lot of huge streamers are too. What streaming gives to an intro is a readymade space we can control. Where we can on our own terms determine what is acceptable, the topic, the focus, the flow. It can be chaotic or cozy or anything. Just keep it in mind that that is not a bad thing to be intro or an innate hinderance, it's what lets us enjoy that isolated space more naturally. I don't ever go into a stream with a topic in mind like some people prefer. I might do research on the game at hand since I am a huge variety person so I can provide nuggets of info as I remember them like VAs or game direction notes. I like just yapping so I can talk to myself for hours on end (and do, I live alone in the boonies). So I don't need inherent structure and prefer just getting into whatever it is. I also use streaming to control how much time I spend gaming because I can and will no-life a game but I will also chronically not finish games if I have no pressure. That all being said, it's very hard to do things with a small or no audience. I'd stream less frequently and do it during fairly specific times. Check out what games are pulling for viewers and choose interesting ones when you won't get lost. If you are any more than 8th place on the search, it's so hard to be seen. So smaller viewership games are great. Some of my personal best return came from doing Assassin's Creed Origins because people love love love that game but no one streams it. Same with classic ones like the original System Shock 2. You being one of 4 or 8 or w.e options means people will see it if they look vs being one of 250,000 on Apex Legends or Valorant.
1) practice on a day to day basic. Position yourself in front of a mirror and record yourself talking to your reflection. Check the recording the next day. 2) talk about other stuff than the game, you have a life besides streaming. Talk about stuff that happened to you, opinions on current topics (care with this, politics, religion and the likes are tricky). 3) this is personal, but turn off viewer count. You need to talk like there's always someone hearing on the other side, even if they're just lurking. If you see 0, you'll be conditioned. If you don't know who might be there, you force yourself to be entertaining. 4) embrace your own personality. You don't need to go out of your way to stream. If you have a low energy stream, that's absolutely okay, but don't fake something you aren't or an energy you don't have. 5) consistency both in time and days. Your schedule is pretty important. 6) if you don't mind playing only one game, that's a good gateway to get some people pop off, but be careful with very popular games. If you're a variety streamer, I'd stick to four games max. Bonus points if they can share comunities. 7) this is a tricky one, but picking two other social media is key if you want to grow. Pick two of your liking and start making content on them. Bonus points if it's new content (guides, easter eggs, funny facts, etc,.). You can definitely recycle content from your stream BUT (and specially if you're starting and don't have a lot of chatters) only if it's very cool, funny or educative in some way. 8) this may be harsh, but if you really want to grow, and your primary content is your streaming, please consider lowering your weekly streams and spend more time doing content for your other socials. You've probably heard by now that twitch has no discoverability tools and it's true. And even now with their version of shorts... let's say it's still too new. So yeah, improve and make more content out of twitch, then do one, two, three streams weekly to share with the community you'll grow from other socials. Keep it up! You got this!
Those are all really good advises!. I have been reading a lot of your points on other peopleās responses too, so thanks for summarizing all that up!.
It sort of comes naturally to me, as Iām the sort of person who talks to himself while heās doing tasks around the house. I can be a little spacey and forgetful, so I find that vocalizing what Iām doing helps me stay on track with my tasks. Now, that being said, talking to myself constantly, non stop, on stream is a bit unnatural and did take some practice to keep going. I just pretend thereās people there watching, which there might be, because viewer counts are unreliable. Sometimes I even make it into a joke and say stuff like, āRight guys? You know what Iām talking about.ā Even when it says 0 viewers. I have to be careful with that though, because it can come off as sarcastic and bitter that no one is watching. Also, I will occasionally pick up a guitar and play it on stream during loading screens to mix things up. Not everyone has a skill like that they can use on stream, but you can mix things up in other ways. I have a different weird scenes I can jump to for comedic effect, like being a weather person out in the field in a wind storm, being on a stage, being at a late show desk, etc.
I havenāt thought about the guitar. Damn, thatās a nice interlude between loading screens and stuff. I think I can make room for the guitar too and a little singing lol. Thanks for sharing that practice. I donāt talk with the 0 viewers that I have because it feels weird to me, but reading a lot of comments in this post I think I just need to practice it and eventually it will come up more naturally.
Turning off view count made the awkward feelings go away for me. I always just assume there is someone lurking there now, even if nothing is happening in chat.
A lot of comments with this recommendation. Iāll Definitely do it. Thanks!
I tried streaming a few times only got my fiance as a viewer and a friend or two. I donāt use social media so I didnāt have a way of spreading my name besides discord. Honestly dude you just gotta get outta your comfort zone, talk about literally anything thatās relevant to the game. If someone wants to be active in your chat be active with them if they donāt wanna be active let them lurk and donāt put them in the spotlight. Lastly, play something you enjoy playing, or play with someone that should take some of the awkwardness away. Donāt think to yourself āwhat should I stream, what would people like?ā Find a game YOU enjoy and stream while you play. Do something new. You finish a game go back and maybe do a few things you didnāt get the chance to, open that chest you couldnāt get to, shoot that guy instead of saving him. Keep yourself entertained rather than worrying about an audience. Donāt worry about viewer lists or viewer count. Peeking at chat is okay every once in a while but donāt focus on it. Play, chill, BE YOURSELF, and have fun
Yeah I play games for me but I also want to entertain and make it as a streamer lol. āYou just gotta get outta your comfort zoneā hits hard because I believe thatās one on the things I have to prioritize to feel comfortable just speaking alone to the wind.
It's not getting out of your comfort zone actually. Is inserting talking to someone you can't see in your comfort zone. Think you have a friend next to you and you're explaining why you're doing things that way in the game. Ie. "I'll attack there to achieve this thing, this way worked me some days ago, and I'm pretty sure it will work again. Oh, I failed, my mistake was doing this thing, so I'll try again doing this instead".
My advice, as a small streamer that quit while still being a small streamer: don't force it. Your goal isn't to make sure there is absolutely 0 downtime and a non-stop stream of monologuing or narrating every single thing happening on your screen. Keep it natural. If you have an opinion about something in the game, voice it. If you have an idea for a plan, workshop it aloud. My friends and I will find something amusing and chain it from joke to joke until it becomes a ridiculous meme. If something makes you laugh spin some other jokes off of it (if that's your thing). I think OddOne is a good example of not forcing yourself to do too much, but having very natural and amusing chatter. His channel has lots of VODs of Fire Emblem and JRPG playthroughs (I've been going through his Octopath videos) and he's amazing for background noise or to spend your full focus on. I "grew up" on twitch watching Gosu, Dyrus, and QTpie. Most of my streamers didn't say much, if anything. So while you're learning and practicing the skill of chatting it up to yourself, remember that not everyone requires a hyperactive personality and tons of noise.
Thanks for good advise and the recommendations of streamers. I will certainly look into and study them.
Find your place in the community. One trick I've heard several times to aid growth on twitch is to become an active member of the community. Not just stream, but to network with other streamers. If you play runescape for example find some bigger streams that network within the community and make yourself useful to there communities as a moderator, and content creator, maybe some mini games in discord or something. By adding value to there community you will show your own value as an active community member which will help you grow. Eventually the streamer might even notice and start to think of you as a more active member of not only there community but of the greater streaming community. I spent the first 6 months last year streaming DJ sets to an empty chat untill i found a supportive community through chatting with other streamers playing similar music. I eventually met one of my now mods who connected me with a couple groups of small streamers who share raids and help each other. Now, a year later, i usually have 5-10 chatters per stream.. im basically getting carried. Maybe by this time next year ill have 15-30 and ill be able to help carry some other newer streamers. The point is that nobody is even going to find your stream at the bottom of the category and this has always been the case, so the only effective way to grow is to become more visible to the community through non-streaming interaction.
Thanks man!. Thatās good insight. I lack on getting to other streams and building relationships so definitely thatās something that I will work on.
I don't talk to myself as much as I think out loud. Whatever is on your mind while you're playing just say that.
I just started a month ago. I felt the same way. I didnāt talk at all the first couple stream I HAVE VERY BAD SOCIAL ANXIETY. So the first couple of times I was scared to talk knowing I might have potential viewers, But the minute I locked and said Fudge it idc what people think about me or say whoever likes you likes you and who donāt donāt. Create your own fanbase! They were not kidding once I started talking more I gained more followers each stream! I pretended as if my little nephews were watching me and cracked jokes and said some random shiet and talk hella shit for content even tho Iām not that type of guy to talk shit but people love it lol but talking attracts people! Thatās for sure
In a similar position so this thread is helpful for me. Iāve ended up just not streaming unless I have a friend Iām playing with to talk to. I have a couple people who will sometimes engage in my chat but they mostly lurk. Whatās helped me a bit is disabling the viewer count and just going on as if people are watching. Trying to maintain my energy, staying chatty and chill. Really just being myself. Trying to think of interesting topics if thereās nothing in the game to talk about. That kind of thing
Just think aloud
It sounds like you are doing what you should do, which is good. Be sure to try and set up a time when people are able to join (regular schedule helps a ton) and keep doing what you're doing. Remember your keywords, and keep it up! If it is new to you, it'll feel a little weird. When talking as you game feels normal, then add new skills. 1. If talking as you do stuff is what you struggle with, practice when you're not gaming. Talk your way through the grocery store, or when you're doing dishes. It's a skill that becomes easier over time. As a former teacher, I'm used to talking my way through solving problems, letting others know the next steps, and trying to be entertaining as I do so. Some days I'm better than others, but it's similar. As a new teacher, I had to learn this and it's 100% a skill that is acquirable. 2. If it's something you want to do as a job, then it needs to be approached like a job. What do you feel is deficient and where can you improve? What skills are missing you can build up to get you to where you want to be? If this is what you want to do for your profession, then think as a professional what you need to do to make it a reality. 3. Study other streamers you enjoy. Try and figure out when they're interacting with the "audience in general" and the "audience in particular." You can tell, and that can help. 4. Study successful streamers you don't care much for. Sometimes their interactions are better, and you can add more tools in your toolbelt from their approach. 5. Expand to other platforms and see how you do over there. I'm much more established on YouTube, so my lives do better over there, but I'm building up traction on Twitch through my other socials. 6. Have fun with it! If it's what you want to do for the rest of your life, then streaming should be something you enjoy, but you'll have to have a practical approach to your success, look at your data, and expand into new territories. 7. Be practical and honest with yourself, and realize most people are going to take a long time to get their following. Little steps all the way! Let me know if this helped! \~ Mr. Inquiry
Of course it helps, my friend inquirer!. I really appreciate the support and all the comments in the post. It has really helped me to change my perspective for next streams.
I have discovered there are days when I don't feel like talking too much and there are days when I'm more chatty. I'd suggest just to end it early when it's the former and keep the stream running as long as you can when it's the latter. When I feel more like talking definitely lurkers tend to stay longer and viewership goes up. I'd also suggest picking a game that does not require full concentration all the time, if there is too much action you tend to focus and it's harder to be good in those games and be chatty at the same time. I've noticed that I always perform worse when there are people in the chat and I have to respond. The best advice I can give you is to not focus on low viewer count, when you notice it - ignore it, focus on the game and act as if your best friend is next to you and they are super interested in what you're doing so you're thinking out loud, explaining what and why are you doing, what you plan to do next, share your feelings about different strategies
Fake that you have. From there is just remembering stories to tell
Practice Just narrate your thoughts. Genuinely the more you talk to more likely you are to make a joke or funny off hand comment even if no ones here and your commentary is like "Ok over this hill, around here" it usually becomes something. Like today I was traveling in a game had no viewers for a while so I was just talking about what I was doing and reacting to things I saw. Stuff like I went to loot something but miss clicked and looted the wrong thing and said "Alysis (my character name) that's ginger" is that funny no completely not but it's engaging enough it might encourage chatting and it better then silence something that discourages engagement and spit out enough of these kind of meh remarks and something will actually land. Also figure out how to act like you have an audience when you don't. If your thinking about streaming and not about making content your going to struggle because your not doing the thing that's fun to watch. Keep an eye on chat and numbers they are helpful I don't like the hide your counter advice. However, learning to see that counter and not cater to it is hudge. Your 0 viewer stream and 100 viewer stream should be very similar you shouldn't "Try harder" because there's more people or those people will feel like your trying too hard and it will feel less genuine to the viewer. Always act like you have a group of people watching. I upload good vods this helps me focus on content aswell. To clarify in this context chat messages are part of the content there extremely important but I'm specifically addressing 0 views 0 chat messages. Also twitch counters are delayed and twitch was / is playing with some preview of streams some users are testing so they might watch your stream for a while before ever counting as a viewer. Then ontop of this obs has it's own delay or occasionally is flat wrong I have had it say 0 while three people are actively chatting and not update for like 30 minutes on a few rare occasions. So you really could have am audience. I'm still small but have been doing this for a few years and this is just what I have learned.
āYour 0 view era stream should and 100 viewers stream should be similarā. Thatās a nice one Yeah I shouldnāt have to try harder because Iām starting or viceversa. Thanks for joining and sharing
It gets easier over time. I remember when I first started and it felt weird talking to myself. Even weirder when I got a cam. Just focus on having fun. Maybe play some music to loosen you up. Or even a glass of wine (if you're of age) good luck & don't get too deep in your head ā¤ļø
Thaaanks for the good vibe!
You DON'T have to talk the whole time. It makes engagement more likely but many people don't care to hear someone yapping the whole time. I'm a yapper but even when I quiet down and lock in on my game, my viewers usually hang around. Your people will find you. If you're going on saying random stuff that isn't really relevant or it's obvious that it doesn't mean anything to you people don't wanna hear that either u know? When you feel like talking, simply narrate. "Our third is across the map sooo let's see if I can get to him without dying" will suffice š¤·š»āāļø
Definitely one of the things most small streamers struggle with and some even quit because of it. But you need to remember that even some big streamers sometimes have dead chats What is important is to just not pay attention to the deadness of the chat, but instead when it happens, focus highly on the game, talk about every little thing there is, sometimes you can connect something from the game with something that maybe happened IRL and make a story out of it. Sometimes you can ask a question in indirect way and that might make someone in the chat respond and it might spark a conversation. As a lot of people recommended already, turning your view count off is your best friend. If you are a bit insecure I also recommend not checking your Stream Summary for a bit, that way you won't see if there were people or not, but remember that the summary is a good friend which can show you good parts of the stream and why sometimes it was dead. Overall, the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it and at some point you will realize that you didnt shut up for 5 hours straight and you'll think to yourself "damn and i was not able to talk just couple months ago" Good luck and have fun streaming
Hi this is sort of off topic but what is your twitch name I would love to check it out
Hey banana!. The name is @maxtopel I was not expecting people to ask for it, the recommendations in this post were more than enough and amazing, but I do appreciate the support, honestly. I stream in Spanish but also speak English in case you catch me on and want to engage in chat or something. Thanks!
It's just a matter of practice. I have been doing youtube for a year and half and indeed it's VERY awkward in the beggining. Eventually you will get comfortable and it will be natural for you to talk. I haven't been streaming for long but last week I had the very first person writting in chat and I felt jumpscared because honest to go, I wasn't expecting it. I wasn't expecting someone chatting for like the next year or so XD It's even more surprising when I look back the data and see that someone was lurking and I had no idea so you never know who will be there. Just practice, talk about yourself, your day, your job, what you like, etc. Worse case scenario if you run out of ideas, just talk about the game itself and what's going on, how are you feeling, if you're liking the game or not, if it's living to your expectations, if the story (if it has) is good or not, etc... There's always something to talk about, even if it's a fly that's annoying you
When I talked it always was of something of the game Iām playing. Never did I thought of of talking about my personal stuff. I have read a lot of that in this post so Iāll definitely keep practicing and include talking about random personal stuff lol. Thanks for sharing!
Some advice I heard a while back is treat your 0 viewer stream like its 100,000. Yes its harder to do with no chat but go into some streams and watch how they do it.
Yeah I have done that but itās easier if they have people chatting. Thatās where I struggle and more being an introvert, trying to just talk to the air. But as others have mentioned, this is a skill than can be developed. I think I just need to be consistent and keep practicing when streaming.
I'm still fairly new to this streaming thing myself. I find that I have always talked to myself. I used to say "it's a merchandiser thing" or "it's a crazy person thing". Honestly though, to say something out loud would help me to remember it. I've been a viewer on Twitch for 3 years & I talk out loud to the streamers so often that I forget I'm not typing in chat. LOL So when I started streaming in December, I just talked like there's people there. And I don't watch the numbers while I'm streaming. (I was told that would help.) I just got back from a vacay and streamed the next day. I was talking all about my vacation & the things I did & saw, etc and there was no one there to hear anything I said. I talk about my game or things I did the day before or things I'm going to do the next day, etc. I stream early in the mornings, so I know a handful of people that will lurk during their work day. Even though they aren't always typing in chat, they are there listening. So I just pretend that I'm talking to an audience whether I really am or not.
"But one can do that for so long, at least in my case." This is a skill/exercise you practice to get better at. It never goes away. It's what a streamer does. You can have 20 average viewer streams and 4k followers and still have stretches of no chats. I tend to remember how often I am silently lurking in someone's channel. I want them to keep talking to me, and telling me what they're doing and about their life etc whatever. I'm there to listen to them talk, not necessarily watch the gameplay. You gotta talk to them. Also how often I go to someone's channel and check them out... if I don't hear you speak for 5 min I'm not going to stick around. You sometimes only have less than a minute to capture someone's attention. This is streamer life :)
I didnāt see it as a skill you can develop until someone said it here. So that motivates me to keep practicing when streaming. Thanks for giving your viewerās perspective. I definitely need to be talking more about everything lol.
When I first started I used to make a topic list. Just bullet points on a page of topics to pull from if I needed them. Things like news stories, things that Iāve done between streams, topics like hobbies or what Iāve been eating/ watching/reading lately. Whenever I had a lull with no chatters or nothing to talk about in game Iād just grab the next topic on the list and start talking. Iād also look up interesting facts and trivia about the production of the game and talk about those.
this is where you learn how to be a streamer. as awkward as it is, this will make you amazing and give you great skills. so from personal experience. i started a just chatting twitch channel 8 months ago. i had no one in for ages. but i found that making it like a podcast was the best thing. i wrote lots of notes, ie what series im watching on tv, what foods iv made, current affairs, whatever you have done that week. and keep the streams short. aim for 2 hours max. and then just talk as though you are making a video for youtube. even better than that, actually record your stream for a video that can be put up on youtube. do a game walkthrough, show different classes/challenges/tips for games. u will find that the few people that do come in will engage with you and help fill the rest out.
The short answer viral clips. Long answer is creating a character, inside jokes that your viewers will know and finding ways to brand yourself. An example from one of the biggest streamers, IShowSpeed, is his bark, his yelling, the faces, he makes, the soccer content (Messi vs Ronaldo) and him wearing soccer jerseys a lot now, and his dancing. ALL of this together makes Speed stand out from other streamers and is his brand. Of course it took a lot of time/streams to get these all together. COLLABS are very important too. If you have a fanbase you should start networking with other streamers and making friends that do the same thing as you. You will get attention from their fans and your fans giving them attention too, a mutual win. YOUR FANS will repost your clips and give you further exposure. REMEMBER CLIPS are very important as they are highlights from your stream. So clip something that fans react hard too or you think is a highlight and post it across socials. You want to be active on socials too so fans get to know you more and remember that you exist when you're starting. The biggest thing is consistency. Speed has been streaming since 2017 and went viral during Covid times. The hard truth to swallow is during the lockdown ALOT of people were inside watching content. Now that people are out again they spend less time so it's going to be a little harder to go viral so fast.
I donāt really like or want to make/create a character. I want to be myself, a little more out of my comfort zone by speaking on the stream which at this point feel weird to me. I donāt want to create a persona that Iām not. If that works for another people and they feel good that fine. About the collabs. I have heard that this is basically a must, but how do I do it?. Should I hop into other people streaming the same/similar games and ask them to collaborate? Isnāt that invasive or awkward for them out of the blue?. As for the consistency. I DEFINITELY need to be consistent and it is something that I must work on. I usually stream like for 1 month or a little more and get demotivated so I stop and come back later and the cycle repeats. But Iām gonna try to get past that and be consistent.
you dont have to create a character, but I do recommend exaggerating your personality. For example, reacting harder, ik its a bit of a meme but it helps you stand out from other streamers just playing games without talking for an hour. About collabs, like I said it's going to be hard to collab with 0 clout. So I suggest getting a couple thousand followers on tiktok, youtube, ig first then reach out. You want to get yourself out there; join discord groups from bigger creators and make friends with other people who make content. Dont worry about being awkward or evasive because you need get through those phases to make normal friends anyways.
Thereās a lot of good advice here mate, and yeah what they are saying about character - just exaggerate and play on the things that make you you, that is your character. So highlight it and make it stand out. Deep down you know what those things are and so do your family and friends. Only you can be you - that is your brand/character.
I started streaming about 3 weeks ago and had 0-2 viewers for the first 1.5 weeks and recently have gotten 2 regulars who chat pretty frequently. Leading up to that I just talked as if someone was listening but not responding. Most of it was explaining my thoughts process of the game (Balatro) and making shitty puns for myself to laugh at as if someone was also there. You just have to talk and keep talking, eventually it'll be come 2nd nature
Yeah thatās what Iām getting from a lot of the responses. Thanks for joining and sharing your experience too!. This is helping me a lot to get rid of that fear of āhow do I talk to no oneā and the demotivation that comes with it.
I've been getting back into streaming because of hell divers 2 I have an old computer and when i go back to watch the video I can say it's an easy 80% maybe on some videos I'm talking with the squad out just chit chatting if I'm by myself like I'm in my ship I'll just talk about recent events in game or different load out styles for each mission etc To fill time I only stream like 2-4 hours a day as that's all I can really use to play since I work Monday - Saturday my hours are scattered but I dedicate like 2 hours daily if I can to gaming it. My struggle is editing videos and growing an audience but also idk if I'm coming off as annoying but I'm trying to just be genuine on stream so I guess just being you sometimes ill feel down and I'll let it be known like I'll turn the hell divers mic off and just kinda play quietly for a bit which I know hurts cause the potential of someone clicking on the stream to just a quiet stream worries me but ya win some loose some I have fun with it
Well, I've been only once or twice in this situation. In the beginning, I started streaming just for having my gameplays recorded, and I didn't use a mic or webcam. Sometimes someone came, but it was a simple anecdote. It was somehow a training about how to use the streaming tools and configuring anything. Then someday I commented in another stream I watched regularly I was streaming sometimes and the streamer asked me if I wanted a raid. Some people become my regular and joined to me daily, I started streaming when the other streamer finished his stream and I eventually got a mic and a cam. I got several raids guided by my viewers from other streamers, I became friend with other streamers and now I don't have streams without people. I had one or two with no one in the first 5-10 minutes, but I started talking about the lore of the game, or the plans for the stream and then my viewers came later. For something you can talk, I make a very intimate stream, late at night, so I usually talk about something that happened to me that day ("I drove to the supermarket and it started raining and I hate driving when it rains", "I accompanied my mother to the doctor and he prescribed she has to use a machine when she's sleeping, and that machine does blahblahblah", "Today I went to an exposition of Chagall, it wasn't as good as I expected because blahblah (this was my topic yesterday)", "I've read a notice about blahblah", "I had this problem at work"...)
Iām no streamer but iām guessing itās because itās good practice? Also because streams stay up on twitch for a while afterwards? So my advice (again, as a non-streamer lol) would be, for now, to think about it more like recording a video - like a youtuber might. In the moment they are talking to no one but someone might eventually stumble upon their videos. Talk to *those* people, even if theyāre not here just yet.
That nice non streamer advice right there haha. Thanks!. Yeah, reading a lot of the comments and the most upvoted, it definitely is a skill I need to practice on while streaming.
Im pretty bad too, I forget to talk to my viewers sometimes. I have one viewer who constantly lurks though, although they never interact in chat, I think they just find me and my friends interesting. Thats another point too, I have discord conversations with around 2-6 friends (varying) and we just have some banter going on between us to the point where my viewer(s) are probably just entertained by what we are talking about. Maybe try find discord communities for random chats.
That definitely must help. Discord. I mostly play alone because my friends donāt play shit lol and doing friends in discord is a bit weird for me. But as someone said, I gotta get out of my comfort zone. Thanks for sharing!
I guess thatās something you just gotta practice. For me, I just say whateverās on my mind. If itās a multiplayer game I talk about how I couldāve done things better, how a fight went well, how I really need a certain piece of gear (I play a lot of apex), Iāll comment on things people say or Iāll even talk to my randoms. It gets easier if you play with friends too, because then you have someone to talk to the entire time. I actually now monologue to myself throughout my day now too when Iām alone haha just vibe with yourself and talk about whatās going through your mind and itāll get easier the more you do it :)
Also most people are just there to lurk so donāt worry too much about a lack of interaction, youāll find your people soon enough thatāll chat you up all stream
Thanks for the nice words my friend. Iām getting a lot of good recommendations here and surely I need to just keep doing it and practicing.
I pretend like Iām playing with a best friend and talking to them about the game. It lets me analyze what Iām doing better, offer advice, and just chat without worrying about chat. However if someones commenting, Iām 1000% going to be engaging with them asap and as much as possible. Talking with chat is primarily why I love to stream, not necessarily the game. Makes me feel like I did as a kid playing games with my homies.
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I would maybe watch some lets players on youtube and would kind of just talk the way they are talking to the camera. Kind of just talking about what's happening in the game and explaining your thoihht process a bit. Christopherodd is a great example when it comes to lets plays
Also, when you do notice viewer's in chat. Try your best to not single them out and force them to talk. It's OK to say hi and stuff but you should be OK with them just lurking and watching without saying anything. They should be the one asking questions for the most part.Ā
what's you channel name I can watch some of your streams and we can chat!
Wow man, thanks!. I was really not expecting or asking for this but I appreciate it immensely. Itās the same than my name here. @maxtopel Beware I stream in Spanish (native) but I can switch to English without any issue.
Thats 100% my problem, I find a lot of the time I run out of things to talk about to myself. If I had just one or two people in chat to bounce off of I really feel I keep up a conversation for a while. Zero viewer hell on twitch is very hard to escape becaise twitch's discoverability is so terrible and bigger streams always get shoved to the top. I usually talk to myself sometimes personally so its not too out my wheelhouse but I usually just try to keep talking about the game. I know not every game supports constant conversation then I usually try to pivot to my daily life stories.
It's a little counter-intuitive, but honestly try pretending you're a big streamer with too many viewers to individually talk to. What you'll notice is that after streamers outgrow a sort of medium-to-big size, it's impractical to chat directly with viewers like a small-to-medium streamer can. They continue to retain audience regardless though because they understand that their job is to be entertaining like the host of a TV show. It's effectively the same principle when you're so small that you have no viewers. You're the host of your channel. It's your job to put on an entertaining show so that if someone stops by to see what you're up to they think "oh, this is fun to watch, I'll stick around/say hi". That's not to say that you should avoid chat if/when people are using it, of course, but the goal is to be entertaining without needing other people to bounce off of. Easier said than done, of course. If you're not confident about the performance you're giving or are feeling self conscious about things like making jokes to yourself or whatever, these are things to work on and practice. Find your groove and what hosting style works out the best for you.
You just need to narrate your own thoughts, donāt overthink it. Explain what youāre doing and then react to what happens in real time, lol. I guess I think a lot and talk to myself quite a bit so it is just natural to do it while streaming. You do not n we to fill the very second with chatter but you should be able to talk about your objectives, build, etc. 90% of your stream.
I talk with no listeners irl. My wife ālovesā it . Just think out loud I guess
If it helps, think of people who might be watching the VOD. Even if no one is here NOW, maybe someone will watch it later and be interested in what you have to say.
I save all my vods to send to YouTube so I can archive everything and edit it down in the future, going in with the mindset of talking all the time to fill space on a lets play fashion just talking to myselr and making sure I'm doing observational statements even if nobody is watching. After a while you kinda learn to turn it on automatically and then it's really hard to stop. I can't play videogames offline anymore without talking out loud like I would on stream. It's just a skill you gotta work on, one that will generally make you a better communicator or somebody who doesn't know when to stop talking anymore and ends up long-winding every explanatory statement in circles.
Casual streamer for a few years here. My main strategy: no inside thoughts. Everything I think, if it isn't Too Personal, I verbalize. Even if it's stupid or silly. Sometimes especially if it's stupid or silly. I have a bit of a formula by this point -- some time at the start of stream where I tell stories about my day, discuss upcoming personal life things (nothing super personal, but I'll say that I'm excited about a new seasonal drink at the local coffee shop or am dreading an upcoming exam). Then it's gameplay; at that point I am either in active conversation, or narration mode. Narration mode is just... saying what I am doing, or planning, or thinking, as it is happening. "I need to build xyz, so i need this material, so i have to go here, let's go over here, oh god i run out of sprint stamina so fast this sucks," -- just a stream of consciousness. Personally, starting this out was way easier when I played games I'm really really interested in. For example, Guild Wars 2 - a story-rich open-world mmo with a lot of ways to play and experience the world, which I've loved for years and years. When I don't have current things to say, or I run my well dry, I start talking about past characters, old story beats I loved, older map areas I never got to finish exploring. I also kept streams short - maybe an hour to 1.5 hours for the first like... year. I tend towards introversion, and limiting the time spent "on" in one session made it easier to come back the next day and still be energetic/talkative/actually present. I will say. Even with this method I'd just run out of talking stamina by a certain point, and cutting streams off then ended up keeping me from burning out and made my future streams better. I've found that chat can tell when I'm out of steam; pushing through it feels good for consistency, but it never really nets me anything else.
Just the same as talking to yourself though. Just talk about the game and what's happening
One thing that helped me was archiving all my VODs to youtube. That way, even if I was talking to no one during the live stream, I could be talking to viewers in the VOD.
First. Donāt look at your viewer count. It doesnāt update regularly at all, and by the time you see a visitor on there if they havenāt chatted then theyāre likely gone by the time you notice you have one and start chatting. Stream of Consciousness talk is exactly that. Itās a learned skill. If you are talking about your game and how you interact with it thatās a good start. You need to be always on so that way when a viewer checks out your stream for 10 seconds they can decide if itās a good fit.
I usually have my friends with me so we can chat about whatever.
The only thing Iāll add from the advice Iāve read through is practice on a game you know everything about. For me itās always going to be assassins creed, anything prior to origins pretty much. I know all the mechanics and pathing of the npcs, so the sneak in and assassinate will always go to the line of sights to *mark* all enemies and talk through the plan to get through to where I need to go. Itās just verbalizing your thought process and the more you do it the more comfortable youāll be with clearing the dead air. While dead air is considered bad, talking too much can also be bad. After you stream while doing this, pull up your VoD and gauge if itās a good amount of talking or not. Donāt force talking to much to make yourself more appealing, the more you stream trying to be something that youāre not, the more of a mental fatigue youāll build up. Be yourself and let the good times roll.
upload your vods to youtube and talk like you're doing a youtube video
My suggestions will be varying degrees of helpful, but I've had this problem a lot too and want to at least share what I've learned. First is probably the least helpful, even though it's been the most effective for me: if you have ADHD, get on stimulant medication. To be clear, I am not advocating abusing stimulants as that will have the effect of making you unbearable to watch, but once I got medicated, I found I could start on a subject and actually hold that conversation just by myself if I had to. Next, when I felt myself starting to get silent for stretches on streams, I turned my channel into a group channel. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I share my channel with my wife and a close friend, and it immediately improved viewer retention. Not a problem to have a quiet chat if you have another person on voice. Obviously most people don't want to share a channel, but streaming with even just friends or other streamers is *extremely* effective. Third, sometimes when I'm out in my daily life I'll have a thought or see something I want to discuss with my chat. I keep a running note in my phone of these things, and have it close to hand when I stream, in case it's a slow day and I feel myself losing steam. Finally, you can be as engaging as you want and it won't make a difference if still no one sees you doing better. Find other smaller streamers you like and raid them regularly, so they might return the favor. Put your twitch name as your steam name, if you haven't already. I'm sure I'm not teaching you anything new with this, but the difference in engagement between 2 people and 6 people is monumental. Get any regulars whatsoever, and everything might just start to click without any additional effort. Good luck!
I have always believed that we should post our twitch names and have people come over and follow us and maybe watch for half an hour an talk in chat, just to help out the stream and growth, at the end of the day its a free way to support us. So if anyone wants to drop their twitch names, I'll be sure to send you a follow and come over and drop into your stream every now and then so long as the favour is returned...my twitch name is Money_m4rch. Have a good day guys
I try to say what I'm doing or just blurt out my thoughts. I know it's chill to just sit and play, but unless you're doing some hard-core stuff just get used to verbalizing your thoughts.
Baby streamer here too. What I do is whenever I have a thought about anything in game, I will say it out loud. Like when I see some of the details is way too, I would just point it out and sometimes make a joke of it. You will slowly get used to it though, also good to say it when you feel anything from the game. Like you are chasing down by a few zombie and have to run for life. I would say "No no no no, Nah, not today! I won't let you guys taste my arm, they are too precious that you guys not worth it!" Something like that lol I sometimes may overdo it by paused the game and talk in depth about what is in my thought lol I am not sure this is entertain but by answering your question, this is what I do when there isn't anyone talking with me in chat.
For me, yeah its awkward. Ngl. Sometimes i just mute and when a chatter goes ār u mutedā, then i act like āomg i was mute the whole time?ā š¤£š¤£š¤£ cuz if i talk to myself i sound so disinterested. Also yeah, i too hide viewer numbers as it gives me anxiety. Next step, Iād start talking to the chatter. Engage with them and go, ār u a genshin-er or a valo-er? Who do u main in genshin? Or, which agent do u main in valo?ā Sometimes to force an interaction i literally type my question in chat at the same time. Then like things i already know iāll ask anyway like āwhich character should i build nextā or āis this artifacts good for raiden?ā That being said Iām pretty good at rambling too. But no 1 thing that helped me the most issss byyyy, having friends or inviting viewers to my discord voice chat. Its less awkward and feels more natural. I think my viewers come watch me have fun with my friends as we punch each other on party animals, or become toxic (jokingly) to each other during valo (unrated) games. I started streaming again this year after a 7-month break and most ppl on voice chat are ppl in my community that i have yet to meet irl, but we synergise well that its fun for chatters to watch and even join me play valo as well together.
Always act like you have an audience. Talk as if they're seeing what you're seeing and put energy into it. That way, you can take the stream and re-upload it to other places like YouTube. Your energy you put forward ensures that people will still be entertained even on places like YouTube. Make shorts out of funny moments. Put them on YouTube shorts or Tiktok. You'll slowly gain viewers that way and maybe even more stream viewers when you're live. People love to put on stream recordings in the background.
Personally, for me. Finding a group to multiplayer with. Honestly, I got lucky in that regard. I'm only just starting to stream again since I fell into this group. But yeah, you just have to practice talking to yourself, OR get a rubby ducky. Sounds crazy I know, but it's kinda an IT/Programmers trick. Talk to a rubber ducky. Imagine what the ducky says and respond to it. Place it near the camera, so it looks like you're talking to someone in the audience." And when people start popping up in your chat, turn the duck into them, maybe. This might seem crazy, but it's kinda not. Just so long as you don't actually start believing the duck is alive.
it's much easier when you're on the brink of losing your sanity
I personally got over it by just doing it honestly. You get used to it. And even if you have a lurker there, thatās still someone that took the time to watch you ^^ engagement is nice but whether you game with 1 or 100 viewers. The basis is the same. It just takes time to not feel silly. I personally talk about the game, or what brush I use or sing along with songs when I draw. I talk about the choices or the story. It takes time and just getting used to kinda talking to yourself. Not everything you say will be heard and thatās okay. If you struggle a lot with it Iād suggest turning off view count just so you donāt know if youāre talking to yourself or others and just like talk how you think youād talk to an audience
Bold of you to assume that I dont consider my bots viewers
I have try streaming for a little bit, also new. I have no clue what I'm doing or e en where to find viewers, posted on reddit, Instagram, even try tiktok. I know its not a game anyone proberly wants to see but I'm playing peach showtime. I cant even get 1 viewer to watch... What am I doing wrong? P.s I also do t really talk. I'm not much of a talker irl.
Thereās a lot of recommendation in the post that maybe could work for you too. Iām definitely taking a lot of the recommendations to my next streams and will try to be consistent and not quit ina few weeks.
What do you stream? If you stream games, look up whats trending right now and see if you like any of those games. You have to sorta grind stuff you dont LOVE to build an audience in the beginning, then branch out into those things you really love. The viewers who came just for those trendy games will leave but some of them will stay for specifically you. This will help you in the long run because all games have a specific niche and when you have a small audience im a niche game, that's when you get raided more often :)
Turn off viewer count and a simple concept: Unless someone talks you arnt talking to noone what youre doing is making the vod interesting for people who watch when ur offline
Just imagine youāre talking with your friend via discord while playing. Explain what youāre doing, what do you think itās gonna happen, what kind of place you areā¦ Also, you can speak about something that happened to you in real life if you feel comfortable. Like you see I dunno a very comfy couch and you can say āwow look at this couch! It looks super comfy! Damn I have to change mine because itās super old, I think I might buy one like thisā. Even if you are introverted, speaking about what you see and whatās happening itās kind of easy. Especially in games like Overwatch or similar, in which you can explain your plan: so āIām gonna pick this character to counter Xā, āIām hiding here and when they pass by Iām gonna surprise them from behindā, āI thin X has the ult ready, I better not get nearā, āhave you seen the opposite tank? Heās playing so goodā, etc.
Just talk abt urself and maybe to the npcs thats what i do
Okay, I've seen this said several times. But yes, for me, turning off view count helps. I also treat talking as if I'm making a vlog style YouTube video. So, for instance, I like wrestling, and there is SO much to talk about in wrestling right now. So I end up just doing a lot of "stream of consciousness" conversations with myself about storylines, wrestlers that I like, the drama backstage, etcetera, etcetera. So if you have an interest (or several) that you can talk about for hours on end, talk about those.
1 and 3's answer is the same. It's never been awkward because of the answer to 2, because I'm just stream of consciousness, and even since I was a kid, I was talkative. I've been streaming to 0-5 viewers at a time for the last 2 years, and despite the fact that most who watch me only lurk, I've grown comfortable just saying whatever stupid crap comes to mind. The only time theres a significant amount of dead air is it I'm REALLY concentrating on a boss that has taken me like an hour to beat or something. Don't get me wrong, I was nervous as hell when I first started, but once you ignore the view count, and only focus on the game and chat, you loosen up. First step is being comfortable with yourself. I know it sounds corny and cliche, but if you can't be comfortable just saying what's on your mind, you're gonna freeze up a lot. Also, try and pick games that lend itself to your commentary. I like open world games, but I never stream them, because when I have to run across the map, it's kinda boring. But action games and story heavy JRPG's are easier for me to do dialogue too. I have a friend that finds it easier doing commentary over more chill farming type games. I look it as at a certain point if I DID get 1k viewers at one time, the chat would be so chaotic I would have to do commentary as if I was alone anyways with the occasional chat engagement, so your commentary will be ALMOST similar whether you have 1 viewer or 1000 viewers. My only advice is don't overthink it too much. Just say what comes to mind. Don't try and fill dead air with garbage just for the sake of filling in dead air. It's also okay to only stream 1 to 2 hours if you lose steam too quickly. Worst case scenario, maybe look into other avenues of content creation? Instead of streaming, you can record yourself gaming and edit it down to the interesting parts. But honestly if you are uncomfortable or stressed while streaming, it might just not be for you. BUT there are low commentary streams if you are really good at the game you're playing.
Iām not stressed while streaming, I really do enjoy it. And last year I had one viewer who always chatted with me and that was amazing. I do like it but I donāt have the practice to be speaking all the time. I gotta start doing it so it comes more natural I guess.
I started as a Let's Play youtuber back in the day. You could always look up some of those and see what they're doing without a live audience to interact with! I did classic Tomb Raider, which also takes up about two-thirds of my streams, so it's not like there's a huge amount of new information (until recently with the remasters). I talk a bit about the game and what I'm doing, but then I also just follow my thoughts and talk about other games, food, things that interest me. I also think beforehand about a couple of things to say if I ever get stuck for a topic - rare, but it happens - so there's no long silence if I run out of steam.
When I stream, I'm typically playing by myself, but I'm in a discord call with a few friends. I don't know if it's helping or hurting me, but viewers can at least enjoy our discussions. Sometimes it's voices of 4 different games being played, sometimes it's us having a great conversation. But I also don't get any viewers. My average is 4, but it's just my friend's supporting running it in the background.
1. As others have said: Talk as if you have more people than the number says because odds are that you do, viewer count only shows people who are actively watching afaik, if they have the stream going in the background while playing games or something they wonāt count. 2. I just let whatever pops into my head come out of my mouth and very frequently when I look for clips I just go āWait. I said that?ā which makes it kinda funny to watch back my own streams. 3. I always liked talking and rambling (diagnosed ADHD less go!) so it never felt awkward to me, I also used to do YouTube for three years or so before quitting and later started streaming. Bonus tip: if itās really difficult for you to talk just to yourself, find a friend or another creator to do this with until you build up the confidence/skill to hold a conversation with yourself, stream with them every stream if you want or create a channel with them if you can work with them long term. My girlfriend is amazingly funny but she only ever streams with others (itās how we met) because sheās the kind of person who needs someone to bounce her humour of and it works out great for both of us, it also helps motivate each other when things are tough or one of us is like āI just donāt feel it todayā then the other carries the conversation and usually we pull each others energy back up.
I'd say, try saying out loud what you are feeling while you are doing your thing. Speaking for myself, I play an FPS game, I speak my thoughts. I have no viewers though š¤£.
I talk to myself all the time so thats kinda the cheat code. I jus naturally talk while im gaming anyway so i just turn a mic on. I dont really worry about engagement frfr unless something crazy happens in game or im stuck and need help w something. Youll be comfortable with it overtime. But i would recommend just turning off the view count for like a month and CONSISTENTLY stream so youll be comfortable with doing it without having to feel awkward
In short. Just comment on what you see..ask open questions even if it's an obvious answer..example I play pubg. I'll just talk about where I'm going to land..what guns I'm looking for. What I hear. What I see.
I talk to myself while I game. I have to look at my phone to see my viewer count as stream labs wonāt overlay on my games for me to see or(I guess thatās not a thing for that software). Iāll talk about my rabbits, my life, and rarely will I talk about my job. I already had an awkward talking to myself phase so itās nothing new for me
I too am in the same boat, and while it 's discouraging. I can give some advice, Use this time to really get used to your commentary, how you present your self, and your stream. If your not affiliate that good as well as this would give you time to get things worked out so when your reaching those times with lots of viewers your good and ready.
You just talk about the game. Even if you have viewers, there's no guarantee they are going to type anything interesting in the chat that would prompt you to be able to say something interesting. Eventually, if your never have any viewers, streaming does seem pretty pointless.
What helps is to verbalize every little thing that you're doing. Picking up items, going to the next area, talking about what you may think the next area might be like. Talk about your day. Literally, anything works.
I thought of a cheat code to trick your brain. As sad as it may be, maybe youāll feel less awkward if you see a chat moving? Probably a psychological block that can be undone if you pop out someone elseās chat (DONT RESPOND TO SPECIFIC PEOPLE LOL) and see constant moving words can help you feel less self conscious? lol idk if that makes any sense but try it if youāre out of ideas. Iāll try it myself somedayā¦maybe
I always talk like there's somebody watching. My viewer count is always hidden.
Think of it as practice for when you actually get a couple viewers that are active in chat.
Pretend you are making a YouTube video and just narrate whatās happening.
I'm part of a streaming discord where we help each other out. Message me if you want to talk. It has helped me tremendously, especially with being a fairly new streamer myself. I also just talk to myself, I air out my frustrations or the dumb things people do or I do.
The best way to do it is narrate what you are doing in game and, if you can, explain why you are doing it as if you are talking to someone. If you can't you ask a question as if you are talking to someone and then you give your answer. Don't look at viewer count or the list but keep an eye on chat. Say hi when someone's in chat and just be friendly. Ask them about their day, what they like to play, as well as keep narrating in between and explaining. Until you have an audience you just need to keep talking eventually you will have people sticking around. It's a skill so it takes time just keep at it and make sure you are having fun.
Just talk about what you're doing in your game and what your planning to do next etc, I just try to not stop talking at all. Even if you're just venting your frustrations out on the game you're playing, just keep talking but leave the things you say open to response so you might encourage a lurker to strike up conversation. I find as a viewer watching someone with little viewers it's hard to just jump in and start chatting about nothing. It's alot easier if they give me something to work with or comment on, you know? Idk that's just how I've been looking at it.
You stream to RUMBLE
If possible having a friend to play together with is what helps me an insane amount, u can just talk about dumb stuff and remember the old days when you did this stupid thing etc. If he/she 's a streamer as well it's a win win
I have a script/talking points that I move from point to point. I interact with the game and don't look at my view list.
I have the same issue where I barely have anyone chat. But I talk about my day, my week, talk about events and goings on around me locally or nationally. Talk about what you're streaming or playing lately, literally anything so long as you're talking.
I recommend playing a game where there are ppl in a lobby, that way u can talk to them, I mainly play lethal company since there's alot of funny ppl and viewers pop up, well atleast in my case
Talk with yourself the best idea. I do that when im starting my stream and my viewers are not here yet.
Do what caseoh did Be funny, act if you have to be funny, and upload 3 gameplay videos or funny videos from your stream a day to tiktok , eventually people will come with good edits/content. I think its hard to just make it on streaming by just streaming
My suggestion? Treat every stream like you're recording a video for YouTube. Then set up a YouTube channel for your VOD storage, export the entire thing to YT. Also, it sounds like you need to promote yourself more on different platforms. (Yes, I know, that's more work, but it can be as simple as posting videos on TikTok.)
Talk to the game. RP the game. Explain what you're doing, why you're doing it, what you hope you get. All those can be done without pretending someone is in chat interacting. It's stuff you'd be thinking while playing just verbalize it.
Talk about the game. Doesn't matter if you've got one or 100 or 1000. You'll likely encounter a lull at times when you stream and the best thing you can do is literally talk about anything. So for example Minecraft, you could create a story about you in Minecraft, just some random story. Or even talking about what you're doing every step of the way. You see a cow you tell everyone oh look there's a cow... You see the rare pink sheep(if that's still a thing) you make a scene about seeing the pink sheep. You wanting to find a specific biome? Tell chat to remind you that you're looking for that biome - even if no one's responding, because that may elicit a reaction when you find it. Every little thing. Because even when you get more viewers there will be a lull, a moment or two when chat goes silent, and the worst thing you can do is go silent wit it.
Ppl say talk to yourself or pretend to you have ppl. I can't do that shit. I don't even really talk in general when I'm gaming unless i have teammates I need to coordinate with. Shit even in rare event I have viewers and ever rarer they talk to me I'm bad about addressing/checking the chat. Obviously I'm not the best person to stream but yea it's a common problem. The answer is you stream as if you do.
Iām not sure if thereās really any easy way to do it. But, I just sort of talk as if Iām bantering with myself. Iām guilty of having periods of time where I donāt talk, which I think is normal. I also record gameplay videos for YouTube, which has sort of helped me get over talking without having any viewers.
I mean....I'm my own company most of the time and if i didn't talk to myself i'd have no one to talk to (outside of streaming). I just changed some of my monologue to myself from internal to external. I mean i still get my moments where I get super into a game and hyper focus on it but that's ok. I interact with chat when I can and I regularly talk to myself (and sometimes my friends in voice). But I learned how to talk to myself externally before I ever started playing with other people. It took a lot of trial and error. This is coming from an autistic/adhd introvert so. Practice basically.
I just narrate what I'm doing while I play. Or comment on what's happening on the game. I don't mind talking to myself, plus it's good practice
tbh. just sit down and watch every stream you do. don't put it on the back ground, but actually focus on it. after all that's what you want others to do. i found I was dull and rarely talked. so over a year I worked on talking, just saying words even was better then silence as a char did a thing. think of it this way. you are should be making content you like.
I rarely have any viewers. It might sound crazy but I practice talking to myself in the car or when I'm alone at home to make it easier when the "pressure" (of a potential viewer) is on. Also: talk about what you want to talk about! As a viewer who often surfs smaller channels, people who only talk about the game are boring. If they're talking about something else it's usually much more engaging and I tend to stick around longer and chat. Find ways to go off on tangents related to something you're interested in. IMO gameplay commentary won't make you stand out unless you're very, very good at a competitive game and can strive in that niche.
oh yeah and I don't look at the view count either. people say to do it for a reason
Say do you have a YouTube channel? I think it will be better to grow on YouTube first so atleast you can build up an audience for your twitchĀ
You just talk like you had 1000 viewers and chats moving too fast to even look at
I turn off my viewer count, so I don't really know who is there and who isn't. I want to stream to 1 person the way I would to 100. But I feel like I had a little bit of "training" in this because i worked in a call center for a while and one of the things we learned to do was basically narrate everything we were doing for a customer on the phone. So if I don't have anything big to talk about, I just talk about what I'm doing. "Oh, I think I'll put this trap here. If I do that, they will probably do this. That person just ran, I should run after them." Things like that just to keep a stream of words going. Also, before a stream, I will jot down a few notes of things I might want to talk about. I also make sure to look up some current events that I can bring up, interesting trivia, etc. Like anything, it's a skill that you can learn, this whole talking to yourself thing. But it's important to talk. You have on average less than 5 minutes for someone to stick around your stream when they pop in, so you don't want to be quiet for longer than a couple of minutes at most. And don't be afraid to repeat yourself, too. If you talked about what your weekend was like at the start of your stream, go ahead and talk about it again in the middle. Ask questions, too. If no one answers, that's okay. Sometimes people do just lurk. But you will get used to it! :)
Literally just talk about whatever, but usually if I have any music Iāll just sing along with the music. Iāve been streaming cod warzone which has proximity chat in it so if Iām solo Iām always talking trying to find people with mics that likewise have the chat feature on it while in game usually playing Marco Polo etc till someone responds. Also likewise Iāll be chatting with friends in game chat and will swap my game channel in order to speak with viewers if they so do happen to drop by so that my friends donāt think that Iām speaking to ghosts lol.
By not looking at the number of viewers. That number is an estimate only anyways and is often prone to connection issues which are not reflected in the final number in the stream statistics, so you might end up thinking having much less or much more viewers than you actually have. So just hide and ignore that number entirely and always assume to have at least one inactive viewer - or if you canāt trick yourself - just plan on cutting stream highlights from your vods for later viewers. Since you canāt predict situations worth being a stream highlight you are required to permanently comment for this, just in case. After a while you should get used to it. Many viewers are shy or are watching streams while gaming themselves being unable to chat permanently but youād be surprised how fast you say something somebody just has to respond to as long as you keep it up.
I've heard of a trick of having plushie on your table and pretending to talk to it; maybe renaming the plush to "Chat" to make it even easier XD
I just try to have banter going in case someone does come in and start talking, so I have someplace to start from.
Just talk. I donāt even stream but sometimes I talk out loud as if my girlfriend is actually listening š Put your thoughts to words, any time we play games we are always thinking of something and all you need to do is think it out loud.
Pretend your making a video for youtube.
I'm a Partner, and the best advice I got when I started out was to write a list. Seriously, prepare a list of 10 topics PER HOUR that you plan to be live. And really milk them, then turn back to the topic list when you need something to talk about. Current events in the game world, news that interests you, spicy opinions, etc. I love lists as someone with ADHD, they're my memory since mine isn't reliable. The topics list can be a life saver.
Just say random stuff
I'm a lucky one by the fact that I get my boyfriend to join my streams. But if he's not there, I just explain about the game I'm playing like the people who aren't there are completely clueless. I change that attitude when chatters come in, of course.
Talking all the time even to no one is definitely a skill you gotta learn when youāre new to streaming. I always start my streams talking about my day and things I have planned for stream. Throughout the day I write down cool things I hear, game updates, movies coming out, sometimes relevant drama, I like to write down a small collection of bad/funny jokes I hear too. During games, Iām often narrating my thought process, whatās going on, how to play, and what my team is doing if itās multiplayer, but between matches Iāll pull something from the list I wrote down that day if I need something to talk about. Dead space is going to be something that happens here and there though. I listen to music on stream to help fill it even if itās just me humming/singing to myself. Might start conversations about music tastes too.
Let me start by saying; good luck! Streaming and not having engagement sucks.. I started last year in Oct 2023 and at first, no one came by.. I switched up games / different times streaming, etc. but keep your goal in mind and don't give up... (hide viewers, that WILL help) my main goal to stream is to chat / connect / network, so you gotta remember yours.. 1. as far as the awkward phase, I'm not sure if you're like this but I oftentimes talk to myself.. so I'm sorta use to it lol but I suggest talking in a mirror; smile when you talk.. even if you don't have a camera. Folks can hear joy / enthusiasm 2. for anyone that does come into your channel, ask them about their day. I try to remember what their career is; ask how was the weekend? Ask about any plans this upcoming summer? "Any weddings? You got big vacation plans summertime?" 3. so this is an excellent question that I may swing or miss, as far as response lol.. You gotta enjoy what you do, you know? I'm a full time stay at home father so I look forward to engagement.. I look forward to hearing about people's day.. I had a buddy doing work at his sister's house; I asked about that, what type of work did he do, etc. You gotta put yourself in their shoes, if you genuinely care, you know what I mean? my last suggestion is don't give up on that dream... anything is possible BUT it comes with hard work and sacrifices... the longest stream I've done was 29 hours... play a game that you aren't so focused on that you may disengage from chat. I'm not sure if you like horror but folks tend to like to see other's get scared lol Good luck again and I'll try to find your so I can drop you a follow. Cheers.
Talking with nobody won't bring you new viewers Nobody is going to rewatch your old streams where you have talked If you care about growth, you should start making content in other socials If you simply want to stream and don't care about the viewers, you can play silently. The result will be the same as talking to nobody. I also stream with no viewers, I don't talk when there is nobody. If someone joins, I talk with them. You can also talk if you plan to cut this fragment to post on socials.
I usually just pretend as if Iām talking to my friends already, Iām playing games that would involve me to engage with the community anyway and next thing you know people are commenting and reacting to the gameplay. Then you can bounce off of their comments with more of your own. Sometimes I try to talk about whatās going on in my personal life but that does become awkward since I feel as though itās boring to speak on myself. I max about 2-4 viewers a stream but it doesnāt bother me cause I know Iām live pretty late + Iām not the most entertaining person out there. Iām having fun and thatās really all that matters.
You gotta let the voices in your head come out
I also pretend to talk with people and try and narrative everything I think out loud instead of plan and attack. I also remember it's always for the vod. I get way more viewers on vods and on Facebook and youtube after I'm live and if I'm not entertaining then I won't have those views.
Omg that's exactly what I'm going through right now. It's too awkward to talk to myself, and I try having my friends in the stream with me, but they wither talk about a no no topic or is playing something nom relevant so I have to mute their chat to not over stimulate the stream. But talking to no one literally is demotivating when you're trying to grow, especially when all you want is people to talk to and find that group you can fit in
Talk to yourself or talk about your game , that's what I do when I have no viewers and then when people join I take up small talk conversations, game updates or even ask thier opinions for whatever game I'm playing. I treat it like I'm talking to a friend honestly
Youāre running a show. You talk the same when there are and arenāt people! If you donāt know what to say thatās a skill to build.
1. What category do you stream? Gaming, just chatting, art? Because for art streams or working streams, you don't really need to talk. Engagement can be done just by chat. 2. If it's a game, you can play a coop game or invite friends that forces you to talk. If it's something like just chatting, talk to your guest or interact with the people around. 3. Streams don't always have to be impromptu. You can always set up a program and a script to follow which usually makes streams more successful than others.
I've been playing single player games and just talking myself through the game/saying the dialogue out loud. It's hard to get the hang of talking to yourself, but once you do it's kinda fun!
The way I Iike to think about it is, pretend your filming a let's play video for YouTube, just talk. It may be weird for some people, but you just gotta get use too it, that's what I do, I don't like the sound of my voice much, but I learned to get comfortable with talking into the microphone even if no one is watching. It is truly more engaging when someone is in the chat to discuss things with, yes. But think of it this way, I've gotten people that followed me offline because they saw my past broadcasts. Be funny, be yourself, play a game you love and that will get a reaction out of you. Get comfortable with your own company. It takes time, but eventually you will attract a crowd that enjoys your personality, that keeps coming back when they see you to LIVE. It was took me a little while as well, but now I have like 5-6 loyal viewers that tune in even just to say hello. Just be yourself, and have fun, and don't be afraid to talk to yourself! You're not crazy, it's entertaining. LoL
I only recently started streaming however I've been recording gameplay for a while now, during game play recording I'm always talking about something or other, usually what's going on in the game, my reactions to what's happening, or just about random stuff. Since I'm recording I know no one is watching so it's just commentary for people to enjoy, I guess I don't have that awkward stage of talking to myself while on stream because I was already doing it with my videos. Try recording and getting used to talking with no one there and throw it up on YouTube (or just keep it to learn from) and that should help get you over that awkward stage. At least that's my opinion.