In the last year or so, live streaming has become a popular activity for many tech-savvy Pinoys. Whether it’s streaming their game sessions or using it to sell stuff, people took advantage of it to reach out to larger audiences online. But if you are planning to join the craze, you need to be ready. Here is a helpful guide on how to start your live streaming career going.
Live Streaming Tip No. 1: Decide on What to Stream
While there are a ton of things you can do on your live stream, you should decide early on the general content type you want. This is so that you have a clear direction for the stream and better draw the attention of your target audience. Having a specific content type also helps you better manage the promotion of your stream.
Games are one of the popular content in the Pinoy live stream scene. Here, you would want to focus on titles that are currently trending, like Call of Duty or Mobile Legends. These will more likely to draw audiences to your fledgling stream page.
Tutorials are another category of content that you can consider streaming. These can get you even more viewers due to their utility to the audience. Makeup tutorials are one of the most popular subcategories, followed by cooking tutorials. But you can come up with tutorial streams on almost any subject.
Adding variety
Doing the same kind of content in your live stream over and over can become boring after a while. Avoid that by adding variety. Some ideas you can try out are:
- Question and answer sessions
- Product reviews
- Tour of your live streaming booth
- Interviews with a fellow streamer or other personalities
- Talking about a currently trending topic
Make sure that these one-off live streams still connect to your usual content. This helps create a sense of continuity with the bulk of your general content. Such alternate content can be done every week or as you please.
Live Streaming Tip No. 2: Have the Right Setup
Having the right kind of equipment plays a huge role in the overall quality of your live streams. However, not everyone is like Alodia Gosiengfiao or other celebrity vloggers who have the funds for high-end streaming stations. Luckily, there are some ways to come up with a fairly decent setup on a tight budget.
Camera
The camera is arguably the most essential equipment you will need. Fortunately, technology has advanced a lot that even your phone camera has video quality suitable for live streams. Another great thing about using your phone for live streaming is that you can shoot outdoors without having to lug around a bulky camera.
If you are streaming from your desktop, you can get good quality web cameras for around a thousand pesos. Make sure that the webcam youtube has a fairly good resolution, at least at 1080p HD streaming. You would also want to check other features that may come handy later such as taking photos.
Microphone
Good audio is also important, especially if you will be talking a lot on your streams. Note that many newer webcams come with a fairly decent microphone that would suit your first streams. On the other hand, your smartphone might not have an optimal microphone so you should go for a separate one that you plug into the phone. These are fairly inexpensive and easy to use.
Lighting
You might not realize it but proper lighting is vital when doing a live stream. The idea is that you want your face to be well lit for the audience. Luckily, this is one of the easiest to resolve since you can get lights from anywhere.
One nifty trick here is to take advantage of natural sunlight as much as possible. For instance, shoot during the day when you have a lot of sunlight. This will give your videos a warmer register on screen that audiences will like.
If you don’t have that luxury, you can always make use of more desk lamps. There are also affordable ring lights that you can get from online stores like Shopee or Lazada. These are better suited than regular lamps since they give a softer glow on your face. Some even have a smartphone holder for hands-free streaming.
Live Streaming Tip No. 3: Prepare Beforehand
Before you go on air for your first stream, make sure to organize everything. Write a simple checklist of the things that you will cover during the stream. You can also work on a basic script if you feel uncomfortable speaking out. Practice your script several times until you are sure that you get it.
You also need to check all your equipment to see that everything is working. Do a test stream to see if your current internet bandwidth is up to the task. You would also want to have some backup equipment that you can quickly switch to without interrupting the stream in case of issues.
Don’t forget to survey your surroundings before you start streaming, especially if the video is showing your room. You don’t want the audience to be distracted by something in the background. This is what veteran news reporter Doris Bigornia had to go through, with her cats fighting in the background while she is in a live stream.
If you have companions in the house, remind them not to enter your room when you are already streaming.
Live Streaming Tip No. 4: Keep on Talking
To get viewers more invested in your live stream, you need to be a more energetic host. Keeping the conversation going is one strategy you can do. if you are streaming a game, don’t just silently play. Talk about the strategy that you are using to let your audience know what is going on screen. You can also just talk about other related topics but don’t stray too much from the game.
Engaging Your Audience
A great thing about live streaming is that it can be a two-way conversation between you and your audience. You would want to take advantage of this a lot and keep your comments section open. Start by reading some of your viewers’ comments and thanking new subscribers for joining the stream.
You can then entertain questions coming from the audience. Many people watching your stream will likely want to know more about your topics, so respond to their inquiries. This also serves as a nice break in between sessions. On the other hand, some of your viewers would just want to receive a shout out from you. Be sure to oblige, as this will encourage them to return.
Live Streaming Tip No.5: Collaborate with others
While you might already be doing great on your own, collaborating with other streamers will boost y8our effort further. For one, they will be able to bring in their own audience, which expands your reach. Additionally, collaborating with others will help you come up with new content for your live stream.
When looking for streamers to collaborate with, you can join online groups centered around your covered topics like gaming groups. Note that you don’t send an invitation to collaborate right away. Watch their streams to see if they would fit yours. You would also want to comment and engage with their content first. Once they start noticing you, you can bring up the idea of collaboration.
Start your live streams right and draw more viewers
Despite all the glamour that you see on the more popular channels, live streaming is by no means easy. You will need to work on your content for a long time to get a decent audience size. But the tips here will help you have a good head start. Follow them and good luck on your quest to be the next streaming sensation.