Foreword xi
Introduction 1
About This Book 1
How to Use This Book 2
Icons Used in This Book 3
Beyond the Book 4
Where to Go from Here 4
Part 1: Getting Your Game On 5
Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Twitch 7
Creating a Twitch Account 8
Press X to begin: The basics 9
“New Twitch, who dis?”: Completing the Profile 11
All in the details: Channel and Videos settings 13
Controlling the signal: From privacy to connected third parties 16
Learning at the Feet of Masters: Following and Subscribing to Twitch Channels 17
Following on Twitch 18
Subscribing on Twitch 19
Other Twitch Resources 22
Chapter 2: Turning a Console into a Streamer’s Studio 25
What’s Your Preferred Platform? 26
PlayStation 27
Xbox 30
Nonessentials That Are Essential 33
Video cameras 33
Audio gear 34
Laptop computer or mobile device (on a stand) 35
Green screen 35
Virtual assistants 35
Chapter 3: Making First Impressions 39
Creating a Complete Twitch Channel 40
Creating an Info Panel 40
Deciding which Info Panels to create 42
Editing and deleting Info Panels 44
Streaming Off Your Console 47
Setting up your PlayStation for streaming 48
Setting up your Xbox for streaming 50
Chapter 4: And We’re Live! (Wait, We’re LIVE?!) 55
Streaming Your First Gameplay 56
OMG! I’m live! What do I do now?! 57
Wrapping up your stream 59
Post-Show Production: What to Do After a Stream 61
Take a bow: Social media shout-outs 61
YouTube: Your content, on demand 62
Creating a highlight 65
Chapter 5: Setting Schedules and Managing Social Media 69
Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel: Setting Your Schedule 70
From start to finish: A basic schedule 71
Your own pocket of time: The length of your stream 73
Consistency and Communication 75
Notifications on Twitch 76
Notifications on Social Media 78
Notifications on Discord 80
When Life Happens: Changes in the Schedule 84
Chapter 6: Improving Your Stream: Being Your Own Harshest Critic 87
G, PG, PG-13, or R: What’s the Rating? 88
Setting the Mature Content option 90
The parameters of adult content 91
Popularity Versus Pleasure: What Are You Streaming? 92
Streaming popular games 93
Streaming games you enjoy 94
Streaming retro games 96
Beyond Consoles: Streaming without Video Games 98
Part 2: Creating Your Broadcasting Studio 105
Chapter 7: Streaming without Constraints: Streaming from a PC 107
Looking under the Hood: What a PC Needs 108
The computer processor 108
Cooling systems 109
Random access memory 111
Graphics card 111
Capture card 111
Power supply 112
Setting Up Your Console 112
Making Creativity and Interactivity Happen with StreamElements and OBS 114
Downloading a template from Nerd or Die 115
Setting up OBS with StreamElements 117
Incorporating your template 118
Customizing your template 120
Adding a camera to your template 122
Adding a console to your template 124
Setting Up Audio: Easier Said than Done 125
Setting up your audio in OBS 126
Using Discord as your Party Chat solution 128
Chapter 8: Bells & Whistles: Nifty Add-Ons for Your Twitch Stream 131
Stand By for Stream: Introduction and Intermission B-roll 132
Second-in-Command: Channel Moderators 135
StreamElements: Your Friendly Neighborhood Virtual Assistant 137
Say it again and again: Using custom commands 138
Locking it down: Spam protection 139
Complete Control: The Elgato Stream Deck 142
Chapter 9: All the World’s Your Stage 147
Quiet on the Set: A Critical Look at Your Twitch Studio 148
Couchcasting 148
Streaming from the office studio 149
Streaming from the set 150
Twitch on the Go: Streaming from a Mobile Phone 152
Setting up your mobile stream with Streamlabs 155
Customizing your mobile stream on Streamlabs 157
Live from the Metaverse: Streaming in Virtual Reality 160
Setting up your PC for VR streaming 161
Launching a VR stream 163
Part 3: Levelling Up With Twitch 169
Chapter 10: Let’s GOOOOO, Chat: Welcome to the Show! 171
Announcing Who, What, Where: Your Show Intro 172
Gittin’ Gud at Multitasking: Responding to Chat 173
Checking in with Chat in real time 174
Checking in with Chat at specific points 175
Creating Content for Two (or More): Hosting Interviews 176
Extending interview requests 177
Asking really great questions 178
Avoiding really bad questions 180
Taking a Bow: Ending Your Stream 182
Chapter 11: In between the Streams 185
Meanwhile, at Penguin’s Secret Lair: Your Channel between Streams 186
Why host other streamers? 187
Selecting other streamers 189
Twitch on Demand: Past Broadcasts 192
Past broadcasts on Twitch 193
Past broadcasts on YouTube 194
Highlight Reels, Revisited 195
Creating highlight reels with iMovie 196
Leveling up: video editing with HitFilm Express 200
Chapter 12: From Hobby to Side Hustle to Full-Time Job? 207
Semi-Pro: The Affiliate Streamer 209
Expressing yourself: Emotes 210
Patrons of the Arts: Subscribers 215
Expressing your loyalty: Subscriber badges 216
A penny for your thoughts: Bits 217
Skipping the intermediary: the Tip 218
Achievement Unlocked: Partnership 219
Why become a Twitch Partner? 220
The checklist for a Twitch Partner 221
Show Me the Money: Revenue Opportunities 222
This Twitch stream is sponsored by 222
Affiliate programs: Working together 223
So, Chat, let me tell you about this amazing product from 223
Show me your swag! 224
Don’t Quit Your Day Job Just Yet 224
Part 4: Beyond the Console 227
Chapter 13: Building Your Twitch Community 229
Check Me Out Now: Publicizing Your Stream 230
Twitter 230
TikTok 231
Instagram 234
Hover 236
YouTube 239
Creating a social media strategy 241
Who Is “The Fam” and Why Do They Matter? 241
Oh hai, Mark: Talking to Chat 242
The Fam includes other streamers too 243
The Community Board: Discord 244
Setting up channels 244
Share with the class: Talking to your Chat 246
Family Matters: The Unseen Community Members 247
The significant other 248
When your kids want to stream 249
Chapter 14: Twitch Etiquette 251
Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out: Bad Behavior on Twitch 252
Yo, check out my stream 252
Hey, Streamer! Hey! Listen! Pay attention to ME! 253
Well, I support this stream, so you owe me 254
They See Me Trollin’ and Hatin’ 255
You just earned a timeout, kiddo: Muting trolls in stream 256
Hate raids 259
Not-So-Merry Melodies: Twitch, the RIAA, and the DMCA 262
What the DMCA is 263
When the DMCA leveled up 264
The simple (but complicated) relationship between the RIAA and Twitch 264
Where to find stream-safe music 265
Positive Impressions: Putting your best foot forward on Twitch 266
Chapter 15: Game Over: Twitch Outside of Gaming 269
Game On: The Rise of Esports 269
NASA TV: Going Live in the Sky 272
The Food of Love on Twitch: Music 273
Harping on a passion: Meadow Fox 273
Sing a song: Ashley Abbink and Camila Knight 274
The Sounds of Serenity: ASMR 276
Phasmo for Real: Old Spirits Investigations Live 277
Gaming for Good: Charity Streaming 279
Remembering rule 1: Charity streaming is not about you! 279
Setting up a Tiltify profile 280
Doing a little prep before you get started 284
Part 5: The Part of Tens 287
Chapter 16: Ten (or More) Life Lessons from Twitch 289
Twitch Enabled Me to Take Center Stage 290
Twitch Opened the World to Me 290
Twitch Helped Me Realize I Am Not Alone 290
Success Is Waiting for You If You’re Willing to Work for It 291
Twitch Encourages Me to Look for Improvement 291
You Always Have Someone Watching Your Back 291
Twitch Can Surprise You in the Best of Ways 292
One Life Lesson from Twitch 292
It’s a Glimpse of How Good We Can Be 293
Twitch Took My Education and Leveled It Up 293
Twitch Restored My Faith in People 293
To Thine Own Self Be True 294
Twitch Doesn’t Believe in a Comfort Zone, and That’s a Good Thing 294
Twitch Opened Doors I Didn’t Know Existed 294
There Are a Lot of Good People in the World — Connect with Them 295
Twitch Taught Me the Power of Community 295
If You Have Something to Share, You Have to Make It Happen 296
Twitch Proves the Power of Paying It Forward 296
Chapter 17: Ten Final Thoughts from a TeeMonster on Twitch 297
Five Lessons from Five Years 297
Grow at your own pace 298
Don’t let life pass you by 298
Stream fearlessly 299
Make yourself your stream’s top priority 300
Stream because you love it 300
Five Goals for the Streams to Come 301
Don’t define yourself by analytics 301
A good mantra to focus on: My stream is a fun place to be 302
Remember, there’s no silver bullet to success 303
To thine own self be true 304
Partnership is not the endgame 304
Index 307
