Tips for beginner streamers

I have been streaming for a couple of months now over at Twitch. Here are some tips that I learned from my own experience as an affiliate streamer.

• Don’t worry about the numbers.
  When you firs start out, the best you can do is just turn of the numbers in whatever program you are using to stream, so you don’t see how much people are watching, or you get obsessed with numbers. That’s what you want to avoid. You should stream to nobody as if you stream to a whole crowd, because when people come to watch, they should feel welcome, even if they say nothing in chat. I only have a few chatters at a time myself as i’m still small, but I treat them as if they were with a lot more. I just keep talking.
• Just keep talking
  I don’t stream with camera, as I think that’s unnecessary. One thing I learned from watching other streamers is to keep talking. Talk about what you did, what your day has been like. Talk about the weather, your favourite books. Favourite movies… the game you are playing. One thing I learned is that the game you are playing is just a medium to get to know you. People come for you, not the game you play.
• Watch streams
  To grow your stream, you can also watch other streamers and get known in their community. I watch streams on the regular and even before I started streaming I already had my 50 required followers. Didn’t even stream once yet. I am friends with a couple of streamers that know me from being in their community.
• Get a good mic and start streaming
  You don’t need a cam or the best of computers, but you can do good streams with just a good mic. Like I said before, people don’t come to watch your games and most computers can handle indie games, so just start with those as they are inexpensive anyway. Most indies are more original than AAA anyway (my opinion).
• Try to improve one thing after stream
  Once you have streamed you will find thousands of things wrong with your stream and you want to quit. Just improve one thing after each stream and eventually all things you think are wrong, are fixed. Imposter syndrome is a bitch and you will always find something to hate, but eventually after doing it enough, you will find that imposter syndrome subsides, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve anymore.

Hope these tips help you in your career as a streamer, as they have helped me.