How to Keep Talking on Stream – 8 Important Tips (2024)

There comes a time in the life of any streamer when he or she wonders what the hell is happening with their streaming channel.

Why isn’t there any audience? Why the heck is everybody running away?

Well, the reason could be even simpler than you’d expect.

You’ve got zero viewers most likely cause you bore them with your silence.

Yeah, exactly.

To keep the stream going, you have to TALK (and chat)!

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And, to know what to chat and talk about to keep people watching, just read on and find out how to keep talking on stream in more detail.

How to Keep Talking on Stream

Now that we’ve established the relevance of keeping the conversation going, what comes next is a list of a few tricks and tips to take into consideration if you want to keep the streaming journey interesting to your audience.

Accordingly, know that…

1. Always Seem Professional

Hmm?

Even though you are just a small streamer just starting his/her streaming career, you can’t let the audience know this.

You need to strike them as an experienced gamer with an already built community.

Remember, here like anywhere else, it’s all about the first impressions. So, you need to impress your audience.

To do this and to acquire new members that will stick around, you will need help and support from your friends and family.

Of course, I am referring to the ones who are willing to watch you play even though they are not into gaming; or they are but they do not like or play the same game.

Involve them in chat so the person coming to your channel sees you are keeping an interactive and active chat.

The new person on the other side wants to feel appreciated and needs to know that he or she will get some feedback if they send something on chat.

Now, besides engaging your BFFs and extended family members you can actually bear to talk to (lol), I realized it’s also helpful if they talk to each other on your stream.

This creates the natural fluency (will get to that) and any new viewer who decides to join will quickly pitch in, so one by one, you’ll get a whole village of new followers.

I remember when I just started streaming – an empty room, optimum lights, great streaming software, and all set for my live stream – but no viewers.

That’s when it hit me – I needed fake followers.

After this, it only took a few streams to have more than 1K Twitch viewers.

By the way, make sure that your friends who do not have much experience with playing games and streaming are familiar with the community guidelines so they don’t say something inappropriate.

This could just do more damage.

So, chill out with the racist topics, (trans)gender-based jokes, etc, etc.

Keep the chatting relevant to the stream and make sure that you talk about topics everyone can participate in.

2. Don’t Fake It

OK, people shy away from a fake and forced conversation.

Instead, we all like to be a part of something that runs smoothly without any cringe-worthy situations.

This is exactly where your f&fs mentioned above come in handy. They know you and most probably they know each other.

What this means to you is that this makes your stream entertaining more than you’d expect.

The viewer gets to see you play your favorite video game (the one you’re good at) and enjoy some quality background convo that seems legit.

Here’s another tip for you!

If you don’t like a certain topic or you are not informed enough, just avoid it.

Don’t act smart, people hate smartasses.

Even though you’d think you might impress the people out there by talking about something you absolutely have no idea about, they’ll see right through you and the situation will be more than awkward.

3. Mind the Competition

Yeah, that’s what we all do, and for various reasons.

If you want to raise the game to the next level, it’s always a good idea to carefully observe what other streamers are doing.

This is something many streamers do/did, myself included.

We established that live streaming while you play video games is not enough to keep viewers engaged.

You have to talk and make it natural, being an introvert or not.

For example, I’ve heard stories of gamers with excellent gaming skills who never had any luck with gaining a significant number of viewers just because they were boring.

So, to avoid this, you can seek advice from other streamers whether it’s about playing video games or how to keep the conversation going.

I did this when I started streaming and it was a smart move.

Not only did I get some useful tips, but I also raised my numbers.

When people see you linked to a big shot, you are instantly more interesting to them.

Of course, you don’t have to be super intelligent to figure it out you need to link with the streamers who talk during gameplay.

4. Engage

Do you remember when I said that you will need all the help you can get from your friends and family?

They help by being there talking to each other and creating a welcoming atmosphere for the new viewers.

Well, here’s another very important tip for all of you guys out there just starting to stream your game.

You can’t just let others do the dirty work.

You have to engage too.

Let me tell you a story from personal experience.

When I just started playing games and streaming them online, I ignored chats from random followers and would reply only to those who I knew something about.

Only later did I realize that every new stream had lower counts.

What happened is that people stopped watching just because I skipped talking to them.

We always need to bear in mind that we are content creators and that we need to engage with those who come to watch us streaming.

People do come to watch you play video games, but they also like their questions to be answered.

So, when live streaming, make sure to find the time to answer someone who showed interest in what you’re doing. Take a few minutes for this, it can’t hurt.

The person on the other side will feel appreciated and you are guaranteed to have good references with other viewers.

Pro Tip: Learn a thing or two from each individual you chatting with. Ask them for a piece of advice, let them share their real-life stories and gaming or personal experiences. They will feel important and will always recommend you.

5. Narrate your gameplay/what’s happening on screen

Here’s an ideal trick how to practice talking and be successful at it during streaming.

Have a conversation with yourself.

It might sound weird and it will be at first, but soon you’ll get the hang of it and it will feel perfectly natural.

If you can’t come up with things to talk about, then narrate what is happening on screen. Practically, tell a story of what you’re doing.

Emphasize the tricks you’re using, laugh at your own mistakes, even swear juicily of necessary.

It’s all natural and we all do it!

This tells your audience you’re a man of flesh and blood and you are just like them.

It’s just that you are better at playing.

Moreover, when talking, make sure to make eye contact. Even though it’s through screen people like to see you’re looking them in the eyes. First of all, it’s common decency and second of all, it’s more personal.

Obviously, the most important thing is that you don’t zone out and leave the viewers in the dark.

Your direct approach will mean the world to them.

Also, when you chat, make use of emotes. Everybody is crazy about these. Why would you use lengthy sentences in chat when you can just send an angry Pepe, for example?

So, if you want the viewers’ support, make sure to make fun content they can watch. Before you do anything on stream, just imagine you are on the other side.

Here are some of the things you can do to keep viewers riveted to their screens.

6. Make it Personal

Ahh, we all like a bit of drama.

When you aren’t sure what to talk about, you go personal.

Chat with your followers and let them know things about you. Of course, avoid giving the address and/or your real name.

However, share with them the experiences not just about the game you are playing.

Discuss music and the latest music trends and/or pop culture in general. Mention some of the latest news (avoid any racist or gender offensive topics). Tell them what series you are watching. Send them links to hilarious youtube compilations.

However, don’t make it just about you. This is a two-way street. Ask them some of the personal questions too. Enquire what their favorite game is. Include them in your latest undertaking – let help you choose music for your next video.

You might dig out some real gold.

Obviously, whatever you do, make sure the viewers are included in your stream whether through talking or in chat.

An interactive game/stream is a million times better than playing with no viewers’ response.

7. Plan, and Plan, and Always Plan

I am aware that most of the time you can’t be bothered with seemingly unnecessary plans.

On the other hand, I am also aware that we don’t want to lose viewers.

And, as talking through the stream and a constant chat activity might come naturally to some, some are still struggling with it.

So, before you start any game or stream, write down a few things relevant to these. Should it happen that you disconnect throughout the stream, you can always resort to this piece of paper that points out the things you can chat or talk about.

Use the tips you wrote down to educate those who are watching you at that moment on what you are doing and why you are doing it.

People like to be educated in this way and the questions will keep popping out.

Make sure to answer them and you never have to worry that your stream will be bland.

Listen to what they have to say and what they find interesting.

Here you can also write down some brands you like. Let’s say, you are currently playing GTA V, so you can seize the opportunity to discuss car brands.

8. Just Chatting is Your Savior

I know that some of you might still feel uncomfortable doing the talk while navigating through a game and you’d rather stick to the chat option.

This is totally legit and nobody can hold it against you.

There was a time when I’d spend too much talking with clients at work so I’d just keep my game quiet.

I’d resort to chat and tell the guys I’m not really up for any talk and I’d just answer on chat.

Honestly, I was just tired of my voice.

In any case, if your stream is Twitch-based, you have the great option to just switch your channel to the category “Just Chatting”.

This will be very useful for a variety of reasons.

First of all, you get to enjoy the game without bothering whether you sound natural. People talk to you just through chat so you don’t have to cringe every time someone speaks out.

In the meantime, while you are preoccupied with chat, there will come a time when you’ll feel the need to switch to talking.

Maybe it’ll come to you as a moment when you can’t be bothered to type it all out or maybe as a situation when you’ll express yourself better in spoken word than with written one in chat.

Obviously, don’t stick to chat forever. Talking and spending time on chat during a game is not the same thing and I believe you can guess which one is better during a game.

Importance of Talking on Stream

The whole point of streaming on Twitch (for the audience) is entertainment.

They want to see awesome gaming skills and they want you to be their jester.

Playing and streaming games impeccably doesn’t cut it.

You have to juggle the talk, the game, the chat, and every other unforeseen circumstance that comes along.

So, yeah, you’re practically the clown here.

The audience does not like the quiet types. These suck out the life energy and make viewers run away as fast as they can.

Instead, viewers resort to Twitch and various streams to hear some good jokes, to have a good laugh, and subconsciously take care of their mental health.

So, whatever that you are playing at a certain point, make sure to do some talking too.

Actually, not some. Do a lot of it!

Chat, too!

I know that the talk you make has to fit the context and that it takes practice, especially for a new streamer.

Now, even though you are super hyped about playing all sorts of games and you’re good at it, but your viewer count is still low, it is most likely that you need to spice things up with some talking.

This will get more people to pay attention to your streams and as a result, you might become a successful streamer before you know it.

Once you cross the barrier of feeling awkward to talk into your screen, know that you can’t just talk about literally anything that comes to your mind.

No.

Now, to finally answer the question posed in the title, here are the things you need to bear in mind.

Conclusion

Now that I gave you the practical guidelines on how to make your game more interesting, I don’t think you should have any trouble getting those long-awaited views.

And if you still do not have enough viewers, well, then you haven’t been paying attention!

So, go back and read it all over again and check the video below for more useful streaming tips!