Stream from the outside may seem like a very easy thing to do. However you will soon find out after starting if you havent researched anything about it, that entertaining is not as easy as it appears to be. This blog we will talk about a few things that make streaming, well, streaming!

Interaction and conversation are pretty much the backbones of streaming. If you are unable to interact with your chat (In the beginning at least) you will find it extremely hard to grow at all. People go to Twitch for the fact things are LIVE. If they didnt want to interact or watch things in real time they would go to YouTube where they can pause and click through videos at their wish. This also includes making conversations when there is no one to talk to. Whether you are commenting on your game play or gaming with friends, you really have to have the ability to keep a conversation going. This being said a lot of people I have seen who arent normally talkative have found that streaming has also brought them out of their shells. It isnt as direct as talking in person but it does help with growing those skills even if you dont think you have them to start!

Tech Skills or at least having the ability to learn the skills necessary by reading blogs, or tutorials and watching videos on YouTube you will find that it can be very tricky to even begin streaming or continuing to grow in the streaming world. When i first started I streamed directly from PlayStation. I clicked a button and was live. I eventually got a Cam and that too was just plugged in. Now when I decided to use a capture card and my laptop this was a whole new ball game. Thankfully i had a great friend who had already done this and was able to help me out as it was a lot of new technology that I had absoutely NO knowledge for. I would have taken a lot longer to figure it out by watching videos but it wasnt that hard and once you know the general idea of what you are doing it can be easy to learn new things and tweek your setup. This also goes for other aspects like mics, volumes, hardware, devices, etc.

Equipment can be SUPER subjective as well. You could go with the products that have the best reviews, You could also ask your friends or fellow streamers which products they like or even by a trusted name that has other products or go by the price tag too. I think regardless of things when you start streaming you should have the skill set as much consumers do to be able to decide on a product. Like any hobby or interest it is also good to note that when starting out you do not need to have the best of the best in order to grow. In fact starting at a lower tier end and growing in products is a lot easier then starting higher and losing interest or what not. For me, I started directly6 on my playstation streaming, I got the Playstation webcam next and then afterwards I purchased an Elgato Capture card and then I used my boyfriends old computer and saved up for my own. Staring at the beginning for a hobby you may or may not fall out of love with and spending a ton of money on it can be expensive for sure.

Knowledge of Streaming would also be great. Whether you are a viewer or whether you even know anything about the streamer side. As mentioned before watching a streamer can be incredibly simple. It can look like seamless when you are a viewer from the transitions and overlays and alerts but in actuality it could be anything but! Knowing some of what it takes to be a successful streamer even from the mental health side to the demanding schedules and dedication and consistency would save a lot of people heartache if they knew what to expect and understand how difficult making it in this industry can be.

Etiquette would probably be something I wish I had explored before streaming as well. Learning what is acceptable and what isnt is extremely hard and not nessacarly in the rules of someones stream. For example self promo is a big no-no in nearly every stream on Twitch. I had done this thankfully to friends who told me the reasoning behind it but had it been a random stream i enjoyed how awkward would that have been! Another would be the push to talk on discord when you are streaming with another person who is also streaming too. This is something I encounter quite often and it really is a pain when you have someone trying to butt in on a stream or when they are shouting out their alerts over your stream. These are all important things you should know if you decide to take the plunge.

Knowing who YOU are is probably one of the most important things I think. Knowing who you are and not who you want to be can make or break you. Do you want to try to be like Ninja? You may find it a struggle since he is who he is. You want to be family friendly or do you want to be mature audience? Do you want to be a one game stream, just chatting one or even a variety? There is so many things you need to think of even as far as what you want to call your followers or subscribers once you hit affiliate. These things can also come as you stream more and as your followers or subscribers say more they can even help along the way with ideas.

Whatever you decide, know that these skills are forever changing with the trends as well as with the medias and streaming equipement. You may not need to be fully up to date on them but having some sort of an idea would be a great way to start instead of going in blindly!

-StaySeeJ08