I’m not one to plan any of my live streams on Twitch anymore, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. Those who watch my content can see this, as I thrive on the unknown and the “whatever happens, happens” mantra, which adds a bit of spice and chaos to my streams, which my audience seems to love.
However, if you want more structure for your streams, plan for the unknown, and ensure you check every box, this is the guide for you!
Planning Your Stream
Depending on your schedule, work, and other commitments, you can do this in a few ways. Some streamers plan a week at a time, others two weeks, a month, or even by the day. You need to find out what works best for you and a schedule that will be easy to stick to.
Let’s just say you plan for a week at a time, and your stream times would be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 6 p.m. You can create a quick and simple graphic for your socials, as I have, FOR FREE in less than 2 minutes by using Canva, Edit.org, and other websites.
Once you have this template, you can edit it week to week and change the times, days, games, etc., and it’s ready to post to your socials and Discord server.
The only thing left to do is create a pre-stream checklist—and we've already made one for you! Get it FREE on Ko-fi.
A pre-stream checklist would comprise things you need to do and test before each stream to ensure things are running smoothly before you start and during your streams, or that you haven’t missed something as simple as changing the game on your Twitch dashboard.
Here’s what I always do before I start streaming on Twitch:
- Open my streaming software and make sure there are no updates or issues with the plugins I have.
- Open my chatbots and any other software I use for my stream, and check they work in Twitch chat.
- Check my camera, audio levels, and all audio is being picked up.
- Test my game to see if there are updates and pre-load shaders if needed.
- Change my stream title and game, and ensure the tags are all relevant to my stream.
- Get my music ready (DMCA music if you can’t separate your audio sources).
- I should get myself a nice cold drink and a hot one, too, if I fancy it, so I can keep myself well hydrated while streaming.
- I look for my glasses for 5 minutes, realise they are already sitting on my hat, and feel like an idiot.
- Change to your Starting Soon Scene, if you have one.
- Press START STREAM.
And that’s it! All that is left for you to do is enjoy yourself. Happy streaming.
