10 Things You Should Do Before You Go Live: A Live Streaming Checklist
Reading Time: 5 minutesMany things can go wrong when going live. But completing this checklist will give you a better shot at having an uninterrupted stream.
There are many things to think about before you go live. And although each of these things seems rather small and easy to forget, they all could have awkward or possibly disastrous consequences for your stream.
When someone clicks on your stream, you have approximately eight seconds to grab their attention. If anything goes slightly awry during that time, there’s a good chance they could click off and never come back. But by checking off everything on this list before you go live, you can focus on the quality of your stream rather than troubleshooting it.
1. Check Your Audio
Bad audio is one of the biggest turn-offs when watching someone’s stream. There are also about a thousand things that could go wrong with it. Your audio could be echoing, your mic could be peaking, and sometimes it might be disconnected altogether.
Audio issues can be tricky to troubleshoot and impossible to fix on the down low. If your audio is incorrect, you’re going to have to stop what you’re doing and fix it right away. More often than not, this is going to cause awkward silences between you and your viewers.
They want to watch you play games, draw something, play music, or literally anything other than watch you fumble around with your audio settings.
Using the best gear for streaming is obviously ideal, but getting a decent quality sound out of cheaper equipment is entirely possible, especially when you put the time into adjusting the levels before your stream.
2. Make Sure Your Webcam Is Working
The same rule applies to your camera as it does to your audio. Of course, it is entirely possible to stream without a webcam, and many streamers do so successfully. But if you usually use one and your viewers have come to expect to see your beautiful face on stream, it becomes obvious when it isn’t working.
It will also cause you to stop focusing on chat and start furiously trying to figure out what’s wrong with your camera and how to get it up and running again. If a new viewer hops into your stream and catches you during that time, you are probably not going to grab their attention.
Sight and sound are one of the most important aspects of a stream, so hopping on your computer a couple of minutes early to make sure your audio and visuals are on point is crucial.
3. Check Your Streaming Service for Updates
Consistency is key, and you want your stream to become a part of people’s daily routines. When you know exactly what time your favorite TV show starts, you subconsciously work your schedule around to make sure you’re cozy on the couch, ready and waiting for it to begin. You want to foster this same routine with your followers.
If you hop on your PC seconds before you’re meant to go online and get slapped in the face with a hefty OBS update, you’re going to be late. How long will your faithful viewers sit in front of their screens waiting for you to go live before they give up and go on with their days?
4. Fill Up Your Water Bottle
Taking care of your viewers and making sure they are having a good time is important when you’re streaming, but you also have to remember to take care of yourself. Sometimes streams can go on for many hours at a time, so it’s important to make sure you have a full bottle of water around to stay hydrated.
You could even consider creating a water-related channel point redemption, so your viewers can help remind you to stay hydrated. Learning about Twitch Channel points and how to set them up is also a great way to interact with your viewers and make your stream more interactive.
5. Download and Install Any Game Updates
So you’ve come prepared and jumped on your computer to make sure your streaming service is updated, but what use is that if you go live, launch your game, and realize that needs to update as well? Some game updates can take quite some time to install. Making sure you have your game open and ready to go before you go live can save you precious time.
Sometimes mistakes happen, and you might catch yourself having to wait for a game to update. It’s a good idea to become proficient in the act of stalling in case this ever does happen to you. If you find yourself in that situation, don’t panic. Start the update, and flick to the Just Chatting category until it’s done.
6. Close All Unnecessary Apps or Windows
Streaming takes a lot of bandwidth and requires some pretty high speeds in order to operate smoothly without dropping frames or crashing. Since streaming is so intensive, it’s always a good idea to close all unnecessary tabs or windows.
Keeping your stream afloat is a big job in itself. So having multiple other windows open for no reason is just causing more work for your internet and PC. All you really need open is your game of choice and your streaming service.
7. Run an Internet Speed Test
Since streaming does require such stable and fast internet, checking your internet speed before you start is important. All sorts of outside influences can affect your internet speed, such as weather and traffic.
Running a speed test before your start will give you a good idea of what the quality of your stream will be like. On average, you need at least 3 Mbps to stream smoothly. If your internet isn’t meeting those requirements, plugging in an Ethernet cable directly into your router will get you the best internet connection possible.
If you’re still struggling to produce a good quality stream, switching to a browser that is best for streaming could help.
8. Make Sure Your Plug-Ins and Assets Are Working
Technology can do some interesting things. Even if everything on your stream was working perfectly last time, it still might not work perfectly this time. Sometimes plug-ins or assets that have always worked for you in the past might be totally inoperable, and you have to set them up again.
Your assets and plug-ins keep your stream interactive and help you know what’s going on when you’re enthralled in a game. If you get a new follower, and you don’t realize it for 15 minutes because your sound alert didn’t go off, you might miss out on making that person feel welcome.
9. Change Your Go Live Notification
A Go Live notification is a message that pops up on your follower’s phone screens every time you go live. It’s an incredible tool to take advantage of as a streamer. Many streamers just leave their Go Live notification as the default, but it totally lacks any sort of interest or personality.
Thinking of a strong Go Live notification can make the difference between someone coming to your stream or not.
10. Think of an Enticing Stream Title
Your stream title is the first thing people will see from you when they are scrolling through Twitch. If your stream has a boring title, why would someone want to watch it? Thinking of engaging and exciting titles for every stream can be difficult, but it is well worth the effort.
If you’re stuck for ideas, try using a question or joke. That might entice people into your stream to answer the question or to get the punchline.
Complete This Checklist for a Smooth Livestream
There are millions of people streaming at any given time. It’s incredibly difficult to get viewers to click on your stream in the first place, so you can convince them to stay with your incredible charm and wit. But by ticking everything off this list before you go live, you will be in with the best chance possible.
Reference: https://www.makeuseof.com/things-to-do-before-going-live/
Ref: makeuseof
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