Chapter 9: Dealing With Dead Air

Patience is key.

As you stream, don't feel down because there is a lack of words in your chat.

Stream as if you are being watched because chances are you are being watched and don't even realize it (people can watch without being signed in as well).

Think of it as the secret shopping of stream sites in that someone has walked into your shop and are secretly rating the performance.

You always want to try your best to look and be your best because you just never know who's currently taking in your criteria.

And you want your business you're trying to build to give people reason to want to come back.

I know its hard and I still struggle with whats called 'dead air'.

I mentioned it in prior chapters so to finally explain, if there's been a time during one of your streams when no one is chatting and you don't talk because there is no one to reply to? That's called dead air.

What makes it especially difficult is that sometimes you may not even realize you're doing it and this is especially difficult if you're shy.

So how do I deal with it?

A saying I have about it, is that when you have dead air? Give it CPR.

Aka, put your all into what you exhale but at the same time?

Don't panic <---Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy reference.

It may sound nuts, but talking to yourself can help much more than you think, and if you have Discord and a friend around? Start a voice call with them and chat with them while you're live to liven the air up. Even better? Bring your friend into the stream to game with you.

Start a multiplayer title and make it a part of a weekly routine that helps you with getting better with talking naturally while live.

I already mentioned Jackbox and Use Your Words, but a few other suggestions are Gang Beasts, Duck Game, Borderlands, Human: Fall Flat, Lethal League, and of course Super Smash Bros or Mario Party. Right now two other titles making the waves are Among Us and Phasmophobia.

Don't have many multiplayer games if any at all or people to group with for a multiplayer stream? Find games that force you to laugh and bring out the best forms of smiles that they can.

I myself learned to just do my best to assert a situation in a game and make jokes out of it. I also tend to speak out loud in games with a lot of open world exploration in the form of plotting my course. ie. 'Ok so we're gonna head left and around those rocks'. It may be a bit generic but it at least keeps your voice going and you active.

You never want people to stop in and see you just leaned back in your chair looking bored with no dialogue, let alone texting or in a phone call with no attention being paid to your stream. It'll make you look like you don't even want to be there, so why would they think you care if THEY are there?

Even if its something as simple as saying what happened during your day or while at school or work, it's still something being said.

Another option? Doing a Q&A as I've mentioned before.

Remember that you're 'on the clock' and while some people do sleeping streams (yes, that's a thing, but to each their own) don't give an impression like you're gonna doze off any second.

I've done my share of streams when I've been up all night, but aside from obvious reasons in regards to keeping your health in good standing (more on that later as well), if you feel too tired to stream? Don't risk going live and being lethargic which would of course affect your stream quality if you're sluggish and cranky.

Get a good night's rest and pick it back up either in the morning or when you get out of work/school. The viewers who truly support you will understand and be there for a later broadcast.

And when you do stream? Sit up and make them feel like a guest in your home instead of someone who gave them the keys to a hotel room at 3 am and then plopped back down in a chair with a magazine to their face.

Joke, have fun, be yourself with (bluntly) no fucks given on who doesn't like it as long as you have viewers who do, and also remember that if you are completely fresh to streaming? It'll take getting used to.

I was pretty withdrawn in my first stream with a 'what if they don't like me?' mindset.

Four years later, my streams are full of bad puns, poor singing, and quotes (commonly NSFW) including the following out of 266 that me and my mods saved in my chat bot for viewers to pull up with a chat command. And it's been a blast.

As you get more natural at it you'll be less shy, less nervous, and simply more at ease.

And as you show the person you are daily? You'd be surprised who might actually enjoy that.