All you have is seven to ninety seconds before people click off. A daunting fact, for sure. But it is a reality you need to learn to engage your audience better and keep them interested. If your stream is too spotty or lagging, you won’t have the ability to keep your viewers around, especially if you are new and don’t have a strong following.
Set Up Channel Profiles
Use all the information your live streaming platform offers you. For many of the platforms, they provide a step-by-step tutorial of what you need to get started. Follow these steps as they have the right information for you to excel on their platform. They want you to create amazing content to feed to their audience so they won’t provide the wrong information. Whatever software they say is best to use, use it. For example, Twitch always recommends Streamlabs OBS and is usually used by many streamers as it has amazing features to interact and engage your viewers continuously.
Set the Right Bitrate
Bitrate is the number of bits used per second to represent the audio and content you are sharing. The faster the bitrate, the better the data gets through and the faster your stream renders to your viewers. Depending on the quality of your video, the bitrate will vary. For 1080p video, at 30 frames per second, your bitrate should range between 3,500 to 5,000 kbps.
Use High-Speed Internet
Ensure that your connection is as solid and fast as possible to deliver the highest quality to your audience. Also, be sure to use an ethernet cable to hardwire your internet connection. While you can live stream on WIFI, it will likely slow down your stream or cause lag from time to time, and for many viewers, that is off-putting.
Be Aware of Your Location
While “in real life” content is entertaining, this doesn’t mean anywhere is good to go. You really need to think about the location before you plan to stream there. Be sure it offers a proper internet connection, lightning, and the ability to set up proper audio equipment so they can hear you. If you can’t engage your audience, it’s likely not the best location. Always look at and keep in mind the terms of service for each platform you use, as even some of the easiest places or ideas may not be allowed.
As you can see, proper optimization takes planning and adequate mindfulness of your goals and audience. It would help to test your equipment before going live and have the connection set to reduce the chance of lag or disconnection. You also want to make sure you can always engage with your audience. Otherwise, there is no reason to go live.
