Hi there! My name is Steph. Better known on the internet as StephOfAnime and I've been
a full-time streamer for over five years now. And today I'm here to give you some tips on
how to get started with your very own stream.
So before you even hit the go live button,
you need to ask yourself: why you're streaming? And set some goals. Are you really good at a video game
and the whole point of your stream is to show off your skills to as many people as possible?
If you're into more Esports and competitive video games, you want your stream to be a lot
more focused on the gameplay rather than you as a person playing the game. Whereas if you're a
personality streamer maybe you're really funny, you're entertaining, you know you're relatable.
You're gonna want to pick a video game that'll let your personality shine. Or maybe you're like
me and you're a community focused streamer, where your goal is to bring as many people together
as possible and create an environment where you can play games with people all across the world.
There are going to be hundreds or sometimes even thousands of streamers playing the same
game as you. What makes you stand out in the crowd? If you want to build your own community
and get started you're gonna have to think about, what is it that makes you unique? And maybe do
something a little bit different. Do your research and most importantly just be authentic to yourself.
You don't necessarily need to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on really expensive
equipment. You might notice I'm using a really nice microphone right now but I've upgraded
my equipment throughout the years. When I first started I just made sure I had
my open broadcasting software or obs, that's what I use to stream and connect my stream to platforms
like Twitch and Youtube. I had a webcam and a microphone not every streamer needs a webcam to be
successful but you definitely need a nice sounding microphone in 2021. You need to at least have good
audio quality for people to want to listen to what you have to say. If you're wanting to stream
console games you'll have to look into getting a capture card because you're gonna need to kind of
connect your console to your computer to be able to stream. There are some ways that you can stream
directly from a console if you're interested but you're not gonna have as much creative control.
You are going to want to be consistent and set a schedule. When you think about your favorite
television series it's always at the same time each week. Well, when it comes to your stream
you want your community and your viewers to know when to expect you. So whether you're streaming
once a week or five days a week, keep it around the same time so that it becomes a part of someone's
routine to say, "I want to go check on this person who's probably going to be streaming at this time."
We need to get real. Prepare to do a lot of off-stream work. I think one of the biggest
misconceptions when it comes to streaming is you just hit the go live button, you play the
video game and boom that's it, that's the job. Well, that is the furthest thing from
the truth. If I'm spending 20 hours a week just broadcasting live on the internet, I'm spending
that and double off stream, creating graphics, planning events, managing my
community on other platforms, managing my social media accounts, streaming when
you want to do it professionally or want to do it more seriously takes a lot of effort
and a lot of behind-the-scenes work that you don't often get to see. The viewers just
get to see you play in the game and doing the fun part which is the on-stream stuff.
Learn the streaming space and the culture. So streaming on Twitch versus streaming on Youtube,
while you use the same equipment to do it, the cultures are very different. On Twitch there are
certain emotes that people love to use in certain situations. So knowing which emotes
are used in what situation and why people will speak in certain ways will all help you kind of
bring your own community together and feel more connected to the Twitch or Youtube community as
a whole. If you don't really understand why people are acting a certain way on the platform, you're
going to come off as very disconnected. And so just like when you enter a new space for the first
time, you want to kind of get to know the lingo. Utilize that social media to grow your stream
outside of wherever you're initially streaming. Social media is powerful. Make some friends. Having
a support system can go a long way especially when the grind gets tough. Thank you so much for
listening to my streaming tips today. I hope they were helpful and good luck with starting your own stream.