I have noticed that a lot of people who are joining us on @DLive are new to streaming. This is awesome that more and more people get into streaming and after making their first livestream they want to do more. I guess you guys never would've guessed streaming can be so hooking, right? :D
But streaming is also an activity that needs some (or a lot of) effort, at least when you want to become a successful streamer over time. There are a lot of things you can do to improve your stream and I will definitely write about those as well, but in this current post I want to focus on one of the most important things (IMO) you need to improve if you want to be a good streamer and that is VIEWER INTERACTION.
WHAT DO YOU PREFER?
Think of all the times that you have checked out other people's streams. Imagine a streamer who talked constantly and a streamer who was quiet as a mouse. Which streamer was more interesting to watch? Which stream did you leave faster? I guess you probably left the quiet stream pretty fast and found yourself stick with the talking guy for even longer than you first planned, right? Of course this depends on the genre, because an art stream can be interesting without the communication, but then again if the art streamer would use a microphone, that would still add A LOT to their stream.
You can watch a good movie without a sound, but it will still be better with the sound.
YOU ARE THE ENTERTAINER, NOT YOUR VIEWERS
Now it should be quite understandable that streamers that talk are more interesting to watch, but you might find yourself thinking: "I don't know what to talk about. Everything would be easier if there was someone typing in the chat to talk to." I get that thought, but I must tell you it's a thought that no streamer should think. To have people joining in to the chat you need to give them something to say or talk about. You as a streamer are the entertainer. Your viewers don't need to entertain you, but you need to offer this to them.
USE SMALL VIEWERBASE TO IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS
Don't be bummed about not having a lot of viewers. This is actually the best time in your streaming career to use for your own advantage and start training your interaction skills. If there aint noone watching or listening, there should be no fear for failure. Get comfortable with talking to yourself from stream to stream and you'll notice eventually that you can't even stay quiet anymore. You'll notice that you actually like to talk and it comes more easier to you with each stream.
WHAT IF I AM A BIT AFRAID TO USE THE MIC?
I'm going to tell you a bit of a side story here about how I started out. I have been the introvert type for majority of my life and I have to admit that I think a lot, but I don't open my mouth a lot to say things out loud. But I wanted to be a streamer so bad, because it seemed so awesome. I knew it is a job that requires a lot of talking so I started to try it out. Just trying to imagine that I am just talking to myself. Thinking out loud as they say. And I feel that I have really come a long way. Streaming has helped me with my communication skills even in real life so starting to do that has definitely helped me grow as a person.
You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great!
DESCRIBE WHAT YOU ARE DOING
Describing what you are doing currently on live is the easiest way to get started with the interaction. Talk about what you are doing in the game, describe your game tactics, drawing technics or whatever it is that you are doing. Describe why you do something or where you learned about that and just let it flow.
TALK ABOUT YOURSELF/YOUR DAY
Second thing to talk about in your streams is just talking about your day, week or whatever comes to mind about yourself and your life. Your viewers love to hear about you and they want to get to know YOU. Tell them about something funny that happened at work/school, what did you buy/eat recently or even what do you think about the weather. The point here is just to talk and keep talking about whatever comes to mind and trying not to leave long silence period.
MAKE FRIENDS AND COMMUNICATIONS
Another thing that helps you grow your stream by interaction is communicating with other people in your niche. Show activity on other streamer's chats or connect with other people on different platforms like Discord. It is a lot easier to get your friend to join in your chat than a complete stranger. Most of the people I see in my streams are the people I have been making chats with for a long time.
Be friendly and helpful to the people around you and show that you care about them. Don't try to force anyone to come into your stream by spamming your link. This will only scare people away. People will come on to check you out from their free will if you catch their eye with your awesomeness.
What you give is what you get.
YAY! SOMEONE TYPED IN MY CHAT!
If you did all of the said things above you'll eventually notice someone joining in your chat (or a lot of people if you are doing really good!). Congratulations. You can now pat yourself on the back and feel good about evolving as a streamer
EQUIPMENT: HOW TO KEEP A BETTER EYE ON THE CHAT
Streaming on a single monitor PC is going to make it hard to keep an eye on your chat and not noticing the people in the chat right away could make them leave. They might even get such a bad experience from being left without your attention that they'll never come back, so it's better to greet everyone joining in as fast as you can. Alt-Tabbing out of your full screen application isn't often the best solution to check the chat, so here are two ways to help you out:
Get a second monitor
Don't be scared by this point. You don't have to buy an expensive one right away just to be able to read the chat. You can get the cheapest monitor possible from the used electronics market. I bought my second (used) screen after just a few streams for only 20 $/€ and it was maybe one of the best investments to my streaming career. This allows you to play your game or run whatever full screen application on your main screen and have your chat window + OBS open on the second screen. You will always be informed about the stream status and see the chat in real time from the corner of your eye.Make use of your smartphone
If you can't find 20 bucks to buy a used monitor, but you do have a smartphone then put it into a good use. I take my guesses that you are not really using your phone while you are streaming so why let it sit sadly on the tabletop? Simply open up your stream from the smartphone browser, scroll to the chat section and leave the screen on. Voilà!
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