What to do and not to do during a Livestream

Streaming is a great way for gamers to gain online notoriety and if you play your cards right, you might become the next big thing. With the help of XSplit’s broadcasting system, you could be the next Ninja or PewDiePie. But, that really depends on what kind of format you want to use for your channel. There are different options that content creators can base their channels on. There are a few things that online gamers should and shouldn’t do when they’re trying to produce their own content. Especially to a live audience, otherwise, you’re going to catch the wrong kind of attention.

Do Talk During Your Livestream 

As an aspiring gaming influencer, it’s important that you interact with your audience and express yourself with enthusiasm. One of the best ways for you to do that is by talking into the microphone during your live stream. If you’re planning on doing a live gaming podcast, it requires a lot of vocal legwork from your end.

Start your video by introducing yourself to your viewers, talk about the game you’re playing, and how far along in it you are. You can also try making a guide on what you want to talk about during the stream. It saves time before start shooting, to know what you want to say and when to say it. It lessens instances where you don’t know what to say and lessen the fillers. This way, you can have a set of talking points during the broadcast and create a natural to start the conversation with your audience.

It’s okay if you find yourself stuttering, and stammering during the broadcast, nobody’s perfect, especially first-timers. But it can help serve as a chance for you to figure out what kind of character or personality you want to present to people when you’re streaming. 

Do Not Scream or Swear Into Your Microphone

As important as it is, that you should express yourself on the internet, it’s also just as important that you watch what you say in the middle of a live stream, cause you never really know who’s watching, especially when there’s a finite possibility that it might be children.

When you’re deeply immersed in the gameplay and your character suddenly dies in the middle of a match, any normal gamer will start to get frustrated and upset. You might start raging and along the line, you may have dropped a couple of F-Bombs without even knowing it. This kind of an outburst is very common among gamers age twelve and under, and it usually ends with viewers having to listen to them have some kind of a tantrum that may or may not end with a very offensive racial slur.

Outbursts like this can have a serious impact on a player’s reputation. Such language can cause your channel to be flagged for being vulgar and be taken down.

We are only human and outbursts are normal. Here is where we need to exercise some restraint and control. We’re not saying that you should filter your language, we advise you to react appropriately and civilly even when provoked/ teased during a broadcast.

Do Look Into The Camera 

For gamer streamers using a close-up camera for their film setup, looking into the camera is great for showing your viewers how expressive you are, and how you react when your playing. This will allow your viewers to get a closer look into your personality, and make you feel like you’re bonding with your subscribers from beyond the screen.

This can also serve as practice for content creators who want to spend more time in front of the camera in the future. They can observe how they project on-screen, how to get used to being in on camera, and maybe practice a signature catchphrase. A lot of gamers come off as more entertaining when they express themselves more, and more often than not begin to make more direct contact with the camera.

This is especially true for gamers who plan on developing a podcast on their channel with video included. 

Dress Appropriately on Camera 

There are cases of streamers taking off their clothes on a broadcast. Sometimes it’s accidental but in other cases it’s intentional. One pro-tip for those who want to keep their content family-friendly, make sure to end your stream properly. Content creators will be caught off guard and it might be an accident but let’s not try to prevent that from happening. Turn off the camera and end the stream properly to avoid unnecessary content.

Videos content like this is likely to get flagged and taken down. Your channel will take a beating, demonetized or worse deleted. Your channel will most likely have a community strike and will hinder you from streaming or posting as you like. Inappropriate content might be taken down but it doesn’t mean that it’s gone from the internet. If you have the time, read your platforms’ Community guidelines and know which content to avoid. You can read the extensive list over at Twitch and Mixer to know more about this.

Do Talk To And Interact With Your Chat 

In line with speaking to your audience frequently while streaming, it’s important that you acknowledge the live-chat of comments that will be appearing from your subscribers while you’re playing. This will allow you to be more interactive with your audience like the way a musician interacts with a large crowd of fans during a concert.

This is particularly important when you plan on doing a live Q&A broadcast with your fans and subscribers. People are going to be constantly typing in questions and comments, some of them might seem pretty repetitive, so it’s always important that you make it a point to scroll through the chat feed to find the more individual questions that you can answer while also acknowledging the users who simply just want to say hi.

Do Not Insult Or Threaten Your Chat Subscribers 

Everyone knows that when there are fans on the internet, there are just as many haters and trolls too. And they’ll definitely be commenting in your live-chat posting mean comments about how your gaming is, or maybe just want to talk about how bad your outfit looks.

Other times there are going to be commenters that want you to take your clothes off during the stream. People who want to post comments like that are, intentionally, trying to provoke you to curse at the chat comments.

Instances like this can have serious damage on an influencer’s brand, especially if they end up saying something incredibly offensive and racist.

So as nice as it is to talk to your live-chat, it’s also important that you watch what you say around them, so as not to start a whole is a thing.

These are just a few tips for how to handle yourself during a gaming live stream, good luck out there, and have fun.