These days, live streaming is no longer something new. With the abundance of live streaming platforms and streamers out there, it can be a fierce competition to capture the audience attention. Hence, it is important to establish your stream appearance to look more professional. Some streamers may even come up with an on-screen persona to make the stream more entertaining and engaging. 

While most platforms allow users to stream directly from their mobile devices and WebRTC, there are a few additional gadgets and software that can be beneficial to the streamer to make their live stream look more professional hence, capturing more audiences and built a fan base. Here are a few top tips to achieve this goal:

Define an interesting stream genre

There are countless of genres you can choose to live stream. You can’t just go plane live and expect an audience to watch your contents, can you? Here are some ideas for stream genres

  • Behind the scene
  • Gaming Stream
  • Storytelling
  • Music stream
  • IRL stream (Muk-bang, Travel etc.)
  • Contest and giveaways
  • Sports

Streaming Equipment

Obviously to start streaming, you’ll be needing some equipment. Even though a mobile phone can be considered as a streaming equipment these days, for a more professional live streaming, it is important to consider the quality of the microphone and the camera being used.

A good equipment will definitely pay off in the long run as it provides better quality output. Hence, providing better experience for the audiences.

A live streamer with the essential streaming equipment.
A live streamer with the essential streaming equipment.

Create a streaming schedule.

You can’t expect your audience to guess, or be available, when you start streaming spontaneously. You should create a streaming schedule and try to stick to it. This is beneficial to both streamer and the audience as it creates a stable pattern and expectation for your viewers to look forward for your upcoming streams.

Some time slots are more preferred depending on your region. Evening time slots should be ideal but the cons are there will be a lot of competition to attract the audience. Do some research to learn what is the best slot for you to attract the best average amount of viewers during that time.

Interaction and communication

Viewer interaction and communication is another important factor to establish a fan base. Here are few key factors to look out for:

  • Prioritize your stream chat.
  • Communicate in a friendly and engaging manner, clearly.
  • Optionally, you can consider getting a face camera. Any webcams should work. However, try getting a good quality one that provides clear images. If you own a DSLR camera, you can even use it as a webcam. Read more on our DSLR camera blog.
  • Invest in a green screen for the background.

Develop your personal brand and on-screen character

Streamers usually act, behave and talk differently in front of the camera. Do whatever that works for you. If you prefer to be a bit private about your looks you can even put on a mask or a wig on, for example. Having a unique character spices thing up for the audience. Just keep in mind to comply with the terms and regulation standards of the app you are using (i.e no nudity, spreading hate messages or vulgar etc.). Here are a few character examples:

  • Cosplay streamer
  • Pro gaming streamer
  • Sports streamer
  • Friendly and positive streamer
  • Screamer or reaction streamer
  • Instructional streamer

As a conclusion, there are multiple ways to create a more professional looking live stream. What is important is to make yourself comfortable with the undertakings and everything will comes in naturally.