The perfect content creator

Part I. The Perfect Streamer

Hello, everyone! destream is here with a brand new series of articles on what skills a perfect content creator should obtain and how to master those skills to become a great figure in the ever-expanding and rich world of online content creation.

Our first article will be about streamers, so get ready to dive into the subtleties of their difficult but rewarding profession.

Let’s start with the skills needed to become a truly great streamer and then analyze each piece by piece.

THE SKILLS

Here’s the list of skills we think are the most important. We strongly advise you to consider them in combination with each other as they form a winning mix that’ll grant your fast and furious success.

The list includes:

1. Technical Skills: it is very important to be familiar with all the technical aspects of broadcasting live content. A good streamer should have at least base knowledge of the chosen platform mechanics, streaming software, video encoding, and sound design. You should also be able to troubleshoot technical issues that may arise during streams.
2. Communication Skills: you need to be able to communicate effectively with your audience to build a loyal following. This includes being able to speak clearly and concisely, engaging with viewers in the chat, and responding to questions and comments in real-time.
3. Mastery: Streamers who are highly skilled in their profession (gaming, cooking, music, art) attract a lot (A LOT) more viewers and can create a more engaging viewing experience for their audience.
4. Creativity: successful streamers are often those who can offer something unique and creative to their viewers. This could be in the form of creative content, unique gameplay strategies, own music, innovative approach, or even entertaining commentary that keeps viewers engaged.
5. Personality: this is one of the most critical factors in building a loyal following. A good streamer should be able to showcase their personality and be authentic with the audience, building a connection with viewers that keeps them coming back.
6. Time Management: streaming can be a time-consuming activity, and successful guys need to manage their time effectively. This includes setting a regular streaming schedule, planning content, and balancing streaming with other activities.
7. Work/Life Balance: taking timely breaks and prioritizing self-care is crucial: streaming can be demanding, both mentally and physically, so don’t forget about self-care to avoid the most dangerous disaster for any creative person — burnout. Take breaks, exercise, and spend time with friends and family to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

The skills on this list won’t come out of nowhere. Obviously, they take a lot of time and effort to achieve. However, nothing is impossible, and further we will tell you how to get each of them.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Here are the steps you can take to obtain the technical skills:

• Constantly research and update your hardware: don’t forget to invest in high-quality hardware. This includes a good PC, webcam, microphone, headset, lighting devices, capture card (for the console creators), and so on. Subscribe to a couple of dedicated blogs about technical innovations & their characteristics and read their articles from time to time. Here are some nice tech blogs: Techspot, HotHardware, Kitguru, and Video Card Benchmarks.
• Research & master the streaming software: there are many different streaming software options available, such as OBS, Streamlabs OBS, XSplit, and so on. Research these options to find the one that suits your needs and preferences best. And after finding the preferred one, do your best to master every aspect of where, when, and how it works. This includes configuring your audio and video settings, selecting the right bitrate, and ensuring that your stream is optimized for the best quality.
• Test everything before going on air: a bit of simple advice that almost everyone breaks. Don’t forget to always test your setup to ensure that everything works correctly. This includes testing your audio and video quality, checking your internet connection speed, and making sure that your stream is stable.
• Learn troubleshooting skills: technical issues can arise during streams, such as dropped frames, audio problems, or internet connectivity issues. Learn how to troubleshoot these issues to minimize the impact on your stream. If necessary, there are many resources available online, such as forums and tutorial videos, that can help you solve technical issues. Also, you can always find a knowing person and learn from them.
• Use the best financial platforms: using the right donation platform or payment ecosystem is very important. When choosing, pay attention to the versatility, reliability, security, commissions, and additional features. Of course, we advise you to choose our platform — destream, as it successfully meets all the criteria above. You can easily check it here.
• Don’t stop learning: watch online guides or attend courses to obtain new technical skills. This includes any skills related to your profession, such as audio, and video quality, lighting/chroma key setup, graphic design (especially needed for good overlays and merch), and many more. If you don’t have enough time for mastering all the above, just hire a good professional. This will have the same effect.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Now let’s get to the steps you can take to raise the level of your in-stream communication skills:

• Practice speaking clearly: practice enunciating your words so that the audience can always feel the right emotions, understand you easily, and love your tone of voice. This includes attending oratory, storytelling, and vocal classes, recording yourself on a regular basis, and so on.
• Engage with your audience: don’t miss any chance to communicate with people that watch you. Respond to them in the chat or your social media comments, tell them stories from life, react to events that happen during the stream, and just keep in touch. This’ll be the best practice you can get.
• Use visuals to enhance communication: visuals are also crucial for good communication. Use graphics, overlays, and other visual aids to enhance your communication and keep your audience engaged.
• Be funny: nothing can make entertainment more enjoyable than a good portion of humor and wit. This will make your streams memorable and enjoyable for everyone.
• Be resilient: it’s very important to understand that EVERY popular creator has haters. Their presence doesn’t mean that you’re a bad streamer, but rather the opposite — it means that you have achieved the attention of people. Manage this attention wisely and try not to waste your energy on unnecessary confrontations with the haters.
• Use nonverbal cues: facial expressions, gestures, and body language can convey a lot of information and play a critical role in powering viewers’ engagement. Use these cues to enhance your speech. Practicing nonverbal clues includes attending acting classes, rehearsals in front of a mirror, and so on.
• Be confident: all the aforementioned will become dust if you don’t believe in yourself and your abilities as a streamer. Always stay confident so that people can find a good friend, entertainer, and leader in you. The lack of confidence can be fixed by practice, sports, or attending a psychotherapist.

MASTERY

Next, we’ll discuss what you can do to master your main skill which is the core of your content:

• Practice regularly: The more you do what you do, the better you get. Always strive to become the best at what you give to people and don’t forget to challenge yourself sometimes. This includes challenging tough opponents (especially if you’re a gamer) or trying something completely new for you, but from the same sphere (like cooking other cuisines or singing in a different style).
• Learn from others: other people and their experiences are your best teachers, so constantly seek and carefully learn their lessons. This includes watching guides & following the most influential professionals in your field, communicating with peers to learn their features and secrets, reading dedicated literature, and so on.
• Participate in communities: Join online communities, such as Discord server and Facebook or subreddit groups, where you can discuss approaches, strategies, and techniques with other professionals. This can become a great insight source.
• Get feedback from your friends & audience: ask for feedback from the people around you to see what they enjoy about your skills and what they think you could improve on. This can help you figure out which path to choose and tailor your streams to your audience’s preferences.

CREATIVITY

The fourth point is creativity. Let’s dive deeper into mastering it:

• Be brave: don’t be afraid to take risks and try new things in your streams. Feel for the constant aspects of your streams and try to experiment with them, sometimes completely changing the vector. This will help in keeping your content fresh and engaging. Plus, you’ll also know what the audience wants the most (by their reaction, of course).
• Collaborate with others: work with fellow content creators to bring new and fresh ideas to your streams. This will bring new perspectives to your content. Plus, expanding the audience always matters.
• Use different talents: utilize your strengths and unique skills to bring creativity to your streams. For example, if you’re a gaming streamer, but have pleasant voice and singing skills, consider incorporating singing into your broadcasts. This will make a great addition to your content.
• Stay inspired: always look for inspiration from various sources, such as movies, TV shows, books, music, and other forms of media. This can help to spark new ideas and keep your streams bright and exciting.
• Audience input: your audience is a live creativity source, so don’t forget to sometimes ask for input from them. Adapt their suggestions to your streams, and you’ll have a good chance of raising engagement and building a strong sense of community.
• Take notes: every time an idea comes to your mind, don’t be lazy, write it down. This will make you better in all ways. Don’t believe us? Just try, and you’ll see.

PERSONALITY

Next, we’ll talk about personality. Let’s go:

• Be yourself: every audience in this world is completely capable of recognizing insincerity, so never try to be someone else. Being yourself means showing your true personality, interests, and opinions without trying to conform to a particular image or persona that you think your audience might prefer. This will help you build a loyal audience that enjoys your content and personality for what they are. Also, it can help you feel more comfortable and confident when creating and sharing content, which can lead to a more fulfilling and successful streaming experience.
• Be positive: try to maintain a positive and upbeat attitude on stream, even when things aren’t going well. Remember, everyone has masses of various problems, and they come to your stream to get entertainment and joy, not to get things even worse. As someone stronger than them, you must always show that you’re here to cheer your viewers up. Nevertheless, avoid overdoing it. Sometimes showing your frustration or sadness is the best way to communicate with people.
• Show emotion: the key is to keep the balance between this and the previous steps. Don’t be afraid to show emotion on stream, whether it’s excitement or sadness. Sometimes it’s right to share your pain to get the common ground and get over the problems together. Also, if used at the right time with the right people, this is one of the best ways of creating engagement and a sense of community.
• Open yourself to people: don’t be afraid or shy to share stories, opinions, mistakes, and lessons you’ve seen and learned through life. Remember, you’re a human being, and therefore your life experience is unique, so it can’t be uninteresting.

TIME MANAGEMENT

And the last but not least point on our skill list is time management, and here are the steps for obtaining it:

• Prioritize tasks: always determine which tasks are the most important and prioritize them accordingly. It’s a simple piece of advice that will save you TONS of time and effort.
• Set goals: wake up the great strategist that sleeps inside you. Set specific, achievable goals for your streams, then specify the work to accomplish. After all is done, set a timeframe and hit the road! This is super fun and will help to keep you focused and motivated throughout all your career.
• Create a routine: develop a routine that includes specific times for preparations, streaming, content creation, studying, and other activities. This can help to establish a sense of structure and ensure that you’re making the most of your time. And efficiently making the most of your time keeps burnouts miles away.
• Use time management tools: Use tools such as calendars, timers, and productivity apps (especially if you have a team) to help manage your time and stay on track with your tasks. Some of the best productivity apps are Hive, Todoist, Evernote, and ClickUp.
• Limit distractions: minimize distractions during the stream, content creation, studying, or resting process. To do so, you can try turning off notifications, staying away from social media, asking friends and family not to disturb you at certain times, or meditating for a better focus.
• Stick to the schedule: do you want consistency and reliability? Do you want your viewers to always know where and when they can find you? If your answer is yes, then you should create a schedule of your broadcasts, make it maximum accessible for the audience, and always stick to it no matter the odds.

And here the first article in “the perfect content creator” series comes to its end. Obtaining the right skills is the most impactful component of the quality of your content and the success of your channel. The more you advance them, the more successful you get.

Stay tuned to receive the latest news and useful articles from destream.

Have a good day and stay creative!