5 Easy Wins to Improve Your Stream

Streaming is an entertainment business and like any entertainment industry there is more than a small amount of luck involved to become successful. There is no way to guarantee success in any entertainment business. You can't even guarantee the best or most talented person will rise to the top. There are plenty of examples of sub par actors, musicians, and artists who become more successful than much more talented individuals. Your goal, however, should be to improve the quality of your content and skill as a streamer to maximize your chances of success. Think of StreamSocial as acting coach for an actor. We don't promise success, but we do promise to help you succeed in any way we can. We want to help you look, sound, and stream like a pro to put you in the best position to be successful.

Also, take moment to feel good about yourself. If you are reading this, then you are the kind of person who is taking the initiative to improve yourself and the quality of your content. That alone puts you ahead of the vast majority of content creators, so congratulations 😀. Okay, so now on to why you came. Here is a quick rundown of our top 5 tips for instantly improving the quality of your stream.

1. Schedule 📅

Okay the number one piece of advice that we tell every single streamer is: Set a schedule and stick to it! A schedule helps on so many levels that if you don't currently stream on a schedule you should start right now. I hear you, sometimes life gets in the way and we are all busy with other things. But you are trying to make streaming more than just a hobby. You need to be consistent and dependable as if this was a job; because it is. You don't have to stream every day. You don't even have to stream more than once a week. But if you're trying to stream professionally you should absolutely be able to stream at least once a week, same day, same time, every week. To make a real attempt at full time, I would say you should aim to stream at least 3 days a week, with a minimum 2-4 hour streams, to start and go up from there. It can absolutely be hard with shifting schedules and the randomness of life, but if you want this to be your job you need to treat it like a job from the start.

Build consistency

Schedules help you develop a pattern of streaming. If you say you will stream every Tuesday and Thursday night, then after a couple weeks of keeping that schedule it will feel like second nature. You won't have to think about when you're scheduled or free, or what your plans are for Tuesday night. That's stream time. The more consistent you are the more that habit will form. Like any muscle, it needs to be worked out. A great tool to build consistency is the famous Jerry Seinfeld don't break the chain method. Give it a try and see how long you can keep it up!

Find your audience

The single most important reason to set a schedule (the most important point in this post for that matter), is that a schedule will help you find and build your audience. Humans, by nature, are creatures of habit. It's just how we are built. Most people live their lives according to schedules and patterns. The reason that's important is a viewer who is free to watch you on a Tuesday night is likely free to watch you on other Tuesday nights. Setting a schedule will help align you to a set of other people's schedules. The two biggest keys to building a sustainable and long lasting community are to find people who relate to you and people who are (obviously) available to watch you. Your on camera personality and interactions with chat help with the first, but setting and keeping a schedule is hands down the best way to cover the second. The specifics of when to set a schedule and the best times to stream is a topic for another day. For now, think about how you can work a consistent schedule into your life. That's the homework for this post. Feel free to tweet your schedule at us once you have it! @StreamSocialGG

2. Personality and on camera presence 🥳

It doesn't matter if you are the best gamer in Overwatch, the best chef in France, or the best musician in Nashville; if you aren't engaging and fun to watch nobody will stick around. You are the reason viewers will stay. The thing you stream is just a hook to get viewers in the door. Your personality, your banter, your ability to hold people's attention is what keeps them coming back. You don't have to be a comedian or sing and dance if that's not you; but you do need to connect with the audience you are trying to build.

Talk. Talk all the time

The biggest key to connecting to your viewers is to talk to them. For a lot of streamers, keeping up a dialog can be challenging when you're actually sitting in a room alone. It feels weird to talk out loud to yourself. Especially when you're starting out, you won't have a chat to help you hold that conversation. You will likely be literally talking to yourself. But you need to be talking constantly. You can't wait until your viewer count ticks up to start. There is a delay, as much as 2 minutes, between a viewer entering your channel and the viewer count updating. Channel surfing viewers, like any channel surfers, are going to give you a few seconds at most to capture their interest. If you wait until you see viewers in your count to start talking, its way too late. That viewer left over a minute ago and you're just talking to yourself again.

So what do you talk about when you don't know what to talk about? Anything really. Be yourself! Talk about your day, your job, or whatever is on your mind. If you're playing a game, talk about your decision making out loud. This is a great way to build interest with viewers since they likely dropped in to watch the game you're playing and your insights into the game could be valuable to them. A viewer that feels like they are getting something out of your stream, even subconsciously, is much more likely to return.

No really. Talk all the time

A great way to get used to talking so much is to keep up a running monologue... you know, like a crazy person. Just talk out loud to yourself. Every day. All the time. Are you making a sandwich? Talk about it. What kind of bread is it? How many pieces of ham are you putting on it? Yes it will feel weird, but slowly with practice it will feel more natural. The more natural you feel talking out loud about absolutely nothing, the more natural you will feel and sound on stream and that's going to come across to viewers. Nobody wants to watch some awkward Andy. You want to be a smooth Sven, so practice!

3. Audio quality 🎤

It may seem counter-intuitive but a viewer is MUCH more likely to forgive poor video quality than poor audio. That's because most of the time the viewer is watching your content, not you. But they have to listen to you the whole time, so your music, mic, and background noise need to be on point.

Buy a decent microphone

Yes, you will need to buy a mic and no your built in webcam or headset mic won't cut it (unless your headset is exceptionally good quality). But a good starting mic can be had for as little as $20 USD. Good audio is important; so important that this is actually the one category I strongly recommend you do spend a little money on even when just getting started. You won't have a chance to win over a new viewer if they drop in to hear you sounding like you're talking through a tin can.

For a good starting mic there are several options to fit every budget. At the low end you can get this BOYA BY-M1 lavaliere mic for $20. Despite the cheap price, this mic has excellent quality and can work with both your PC mic input, phone mic jack, or a dedicated camera mic input. At a slightly higher price of $50, the Blue Snowball iCE mic makes for a great first desktop microphone that will serve you well for years. At the higher end of what I would consider an entry level mic (though many professional quality content creators still use this mic and sound great) is the Blue Yeti at $115-$150 USD. Certainly not required to get started but this mic will more than cover your audio needs.

Use the right audio settings for your software

A great mic will only get you so far if you don't have it set up correctly. Detailed settings guides for different streaming software is beyond the scope of this quick intro, but its something we will cover at length in a dedicated post. In the mean time, here are some good videos on setting up your audio for OBS Studio, Streamlabs OBS, and XSplit. Take a little time to get your audio settings right and be sure to record some sample clips to watch and listen back to make sure it sounds good in final production.

4. Video quality 🎥

If you stream without any camera at all, get a camera immediately. Can you be a successful streamer without being on camera? Yes; there are a few no camera streamers who do well. But why would you give yourself such a disadvantage? It would be like running a marathon without wearing shoes. You could do it, but its going to be a lot harder. A major factor in growing an audience is forming a connection with your viewer; and how can someone form a connection if they can't even see you? Being able to see and relate to a persons emotions and reactions allows a viewer to connect with the streamer in a way that audio only just won't provide.

Get a dedicated basic camera

A decent camera for streaming doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. You can get a good quality entry level 1080p webcam like this one from Amazon for under $27 USD. A 1080p camera will be all you need to produce quality content until long after your budget is no longer a concern.

If you absolutely don't have the budget for a dedicated camera right now, then pull out your phone. If your phone was made in the last 5 years it most likely records in 1080p, and if it was made in the last 2 years it probably records in 4k! Not bad for something you already have. You will need to download a virtual webcam program like e2eSoft VCam to tell your computer to treat your phone as a webcam. It's an excellent solution to get started and won't cost you a cent to try. If you do use your phone as your streaming camera I would highly recommend getting a phone mount to position and stabilize it. Something like this smartphone holder plus ring light for $13 USD on Amazon will let you both position your phone well and serve as a key light to make sure you look good on camera.

Be deliberate about your set design

Once you are on screen be thoughtful about what you are showing your viewers. True, most viewers will not spend the majority of their time looking at your picture in the stream. But when they do, you want to present a clean, coherent image of who you are. This is also the first impression you will make with your viewer and your first chance to start forming a connection to them. Don't let a bad background lose the viewer before they get to know you.

• Make sure you are the largest object in the frame. If you need to zoom in the camera, or move closer, do it.
• Smile, be pleasant, maybe shower and run a comb through your hair. Humans are naturally wired to instantly judge a person and make a snap decision about our feelings towards them. Here is an excellent TED talk about how and why our brains work that way. Be deliberate about how you visually present yourself.
• Don't have a distracting/messy background. A blank wall or empty room is fine. A nicely decorated room that expresses your personality is better! Dirty laundry and your unmade bed don't make the cut.
• Remember this is your "set" as much as a production studio has movie sets. Be deliberate about how you design your set and what it says about you.
• Optional bonus: decorate your background with art and décor that reflects who you are. This is a great way for a viewer to feel like they are getting a peek into your life and to connect with who you are and how you relate to them.

5. Lighting 💡

When talking about improving lighting we could discuss key lights, accent lights, background lighting, color contrast, and color theory at length; and we will discuss all of those in detail in future post. For this quick win though, lets focus on the basics of good stream lighting.

Be aware of your light sources

Look around the room and notice all of the sources of light. Maybe you have a big light in the ceiling in the middle of the room, a couple windows, or some can lights that border the room? Where ever light can come from, you need to take it into account. The key is to have more light in front of you than behind you. If you stream with a window directly behind you, sun pouring in, while the view may be beautiful you are going to look like one of those witness protection guys who has to hide their identity. Not a great look for a streamer. There's nothing wrong with having good light or windows behind you. Just make sure you have more light in front of you than behind to light your face.

Light your face

Your face should be the focus of the image, so you need to be clearly lit. There is nothing wrong with background lighting. Its actually encouraged; but your face should be lighter and brighter than other things in frame. Colors are also totally fine. When it comes to your key light on your face, however, warm lighting is best. Colored key lights can be nice for a themed stream or to have some fun, but day to day you want a nice, warm, amber colored light. Why amber in particular? Warm tones are better than cool tones for lighting skin. Warm light produces rich, healthy skin tones so you'll look like a freshly tanned baby instead of someone who may have not left their house in 2 weeks. Look I get it... who wants to go outside? You just need to look like you go outside.

Try to have a good directional light

After you've laid out your light sources and positioned yourself accordingly, you want to try to position your main light source (known as a key light) above and to the side of your face. Try looking at one of your own eyebrows. The direction you just looked, that's where you want your key light. Why up and off center? A light above you will cast shadows down under your chin, framing your face and making you look thinner. Off center lighting pointed towards you will cast shadows across your face giving you texture and depth. Subconsciously it will make you more interesting to look at for a viewer, and the name of the game is to be interesting.

Feel free to get a key light

If you do want to spend a little money on your setup, a key light is an excellent investment. Good lighting will grow with you as your stream grows and a quality light will last nearly forever. This RGB LED light for $60 on Amazon is an excellent light that won't break the bank and can serve as a key light to start and transition into an accent light or background color light when you want to buy more lights. It also uses a 1/4" 20 threaded mount (aka any standard camera mount) so mounting a positioning options are limitless.

Thanks so much for reading. I hope this information helps you grow as a streamer. If you like this content and want more, or to get updates about the latest in StreamSocial tools, be sure to subscribe to our mailing list.

GGs and keep streaming! 💖