Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 3 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Your Game On 5 Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Twitch 7 Deciding Whether Twitch Is for You 8 You want to connect with a community based on your passions or hobbies 10 You want to turn your subject of interest into a social experience 10 You want to generate excitement 11 You have a cause that needs attention 11 You want to have a little fun 12 Creating a Twitch Account 13 Insert coins to begin: The basics 14 New Twitch, who dis: Completing the Profile 16 All in the details: Channel and videos settings 18 Controlling the signal: From privacy to connected third parties 20 Learning at the Feet of Masters: Following and Subscribing to Twitch Channels 22 Following on Twitch 22 Subscribing on Twitch 24 Other Twitch Resources 26 Chapter 2: Building a Streamer’s Studio 29 Where Are You Streaming From? 30 PlayStation 4 32 Xbox One X 34 Non-Essentials That Are Essential 37 Video cameras 38 Audio gear 39 Deck switchers 40 Virtual assistants 41 Chapter 3: Making First Impressions 45 Creating a Complete Twitch Channel 46 Creating an Info Panel 46 Deciding what Info Panels you should create 48 Editing and deleting Info Panels 50 Streaming Off Your Console 52 Setting up your PS4 for streaming 52 Setting up your Xbox One for streaming 54 Chapter 4: And We’re Live! (Wait, We’re LIVE?!) 59 Streaming Your First Gameplay 60 OMG! I’m live! What do I do now?! 61 Wrapping up your stream 62 Post-Show Production: What to Do After a Stream 65 Take a bow: Social media shout-outs 65 Reruns: The ICYMI Stream 67 YouTube: Your content, on demand 69 Creating a highlight 72 Chapter 5: Improving Your Stream: Being Your Own Harshest Critic 75 G, PG, PG-13, or R: What’s the Rating? 76 Setting the Mature Content option 78 The parameters of “Adult Content” 78 Popularity Versus Pleasure: What You Are Streaming? 79 Streaming popular games 81 Streaming games you enjoy 84 Streaming retro games 84 Beyond Consoles: Streaming without Video Games 85 Streaming in the real world 86 Sharing your creative pursuits 89 Part 2: Creating Your Broadcasting Studio 91 Chapter 6: Streaming without Constraints: Streaming from a PC 93 Looking under the Hood: What a PC Needs 94 The computer processor (CPU) 95 Cooling systems 96 Random Access Memory (RAM) 98 Graphics card 98 Capture card 100 Power supply 100 Game On, Again: Setting Up Your Console 101 Streamlabs OBS: Where Creativity and Interactivity Happen 103 Incorporating a template 104 Adding a console in your template 106 Customizing your template 108 Video Is Easy; Audio Is Hard 109 Using the Astro A50 MixAmp Pro as your Party Chat solution 110 Using Discord as your Party Chat solution 111 Before Returning to Orbit, Guardian 114 Chapter 7: Setting Schedules and Social Media 115 Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel: Setting Your Schedule 116 From start to finish: A basic schedule 116 Other schedule options 118 Your own pocket of time: The length of your stream 119 Consistency and Communication 122 Notifications on Twitch 122 Notifications on Facebook and Twitter 124 Notifications on Discord 127 When Life Happens: Changes in the Schedule 129 Chapter 8: Bells & Whistles: Nifty Add-Ons for Your Twitch Stream 133 Stand By For Stream: Introduction and Intermission B-roll 134 Second-in-Command: Channel Moderators 137 Nightbot: Your Friendly Neighborhood Virtual Assistant 139 Say it again and again: Custom commands 140 Locking it down: Spam protection 143 Self-promotion on Twitch: Working with timers 146 Chapter 9: Setting the Stage 149 Love What You’ve Done with the Place: Overlays 149 Creating an overlay 150 Quiet on the Set: One Final Look at Your Twitch Studio 152 Couchcasting 153 Deskcasting 154 From the set 155 Twitch on the Go: Streaming from the Twitch App 157 Part 3: Getting Busy with the Business of Twitch 161 Chapter 10: Let’s GOOOOO, Chat: Welcome to the Show! 163 Who, What, Where: Your Show Intro 164 Gitting Gud at Multitasking: Responding to Chat 166 Checking with Chat in real time 166 Checking with Chat at specific segments 168 Taking a Bow: Ending Your Stream 169 Creating Content for Two (or More): Hosting Interviews 170 Interview requests 171 Asking really great questions 172 Avoiding really bad questions 174 Prepping Your Green Room for Guests 176 Welcoming in-studio guests 176 Meeting guests on their own turf 177 Chapter 11: The In-Between Streams 179 Meanwhile, at Penguin’s Secret Lair: Your Channel between Streams 179 Why host other streamers? 181 Selecting other streamers 182 Twitch on Demand: Past Broadcasts 185 Past broadcasts on Twitch 185 Past broadcasts on YouTube 186 Highlight Videos: Revisited 188 iGame, Therefore iTwitch: Creating Highlight Reels with iMovie 189 Import video with iMovie 189 Creating your highlight reel with iMovie 190 Exporting Your Highlight Reel from iMovie 193 Elementary, Dear Watson: Video Editing with Adobe Premiere 194 Importing video with Premiere Elements 195 Creating your highlight reel with Premiere Elements 197 Exporting your highlight reel from Premiere Elements 198 Chapter 12: From Hobby to Side Hustle to Full-Time Job? 201 Entry Level Pro: The Affiliate Streamer 202 Expressing yourself: Emotes 204 Expressing your loyalty: Sub badges 206 Showing support: Subscribers 209 A penny for your thoughts: Bits 210 Just the tip 211 Achievement Unlocked: Partnership 212 Why become a Twitch Partner? 212 The checklist for a Twitch Partner 213 Show me the money: Revenue opportunities 215 This Twitch Stream is sponsored by 215 So, Chat, let me tell you about this amazing product from 215 Show me your SWAG! 217 Don’t Quit Your Day Job Just Yet 218 Part 4: Beyond the Console 221 Chapter 13: Building Your Twitch Community 223 Check Me Out Now: Publicizing Your Stream 224 Podcasting 224 Twitter 226 Instagram 227 Who Is “The Fam” and Why Do They Matter? 230 Oh, hai, Mark: Talking to Chat 230 Kinda busy right now: When not to engage 231 The Fam includes other streamers too 232 Remembering your roots 233 The Community Board: Discord 233 Share with the class: Talking to your Chat 235 One-on-one: Direct messages in Discord 236 Chapter 14: Twitch Etiquette 239 Don’t Let the Door Hit You on the Way Out: Bad Behavior on Twitch 240 “Yo, check out my stream ” 240 They see me trollin’ and hatin’ 241 Hate speech 244 Making a Music Bed for Your Channel 244 The Big Three of content management 245 The grey area: Twitch, Spotify, and the Compromise 247 I’ll Take the First: Free Speech versus Slander 249 Family Matters 250 The significant other 250 When your kids want to stream 252 Burnout: The Specter of Twitch 253 Chapter 15: Game Over: Twitch Outside of Gaming 255 Game On: The Rise of eSports 256 Bungie TV: Going Live with the Latest 257 How Can I Help You: ServiceNow 258 Coding at the Speed of Chill: SKFroi 259 A Twitch Worth a Thousand Words: Dawn McTeigue 261 Harping on a Passion: Meadow Fox 263 Gaming for Good: Charity Streams 264 Doing a little prep before you get started 265 Setting up the collection jar 266 Part 5: The Part of Tens 269 Chapter 16: Ten Twitch Streamers Who Influenced the Author 271 ItsOrd (Matthew J Drake) 272 OneActual 273 ZGPhoto 273 iLulu 274 Aura 275 That Token Guy 276 Tiddly 277 RealMunchle (read as “RealMunchie”) 277 Danfinity 278 DrLupo 279 Chapter 17: Ten (or More) Life Lessons from Twitch 281 Twitch Continuously Makes Me Strive to Be Better 282 Twitch Opened the World to Me 282 Success Is Waiting for You If You Are Ready to Work for It 283 Insults Can Sometimes Be the Highest Form of Flattery 283 No Matter the Time, No Matter the Place, You Always Have Someone Watching Your Back 284 When You Doubt Is the Time to Work Harder 284 Don’t Love the Game Love the Player 285 It’s a Glimpse of How Good We Can Be 285 To Thine Own Self Be True 286 No, Really Just Be Yourself 286 Speak from the Head as Well as the Heart 286 There Are a Lot of Good People Out in the World Connect with Them 287 It’s Not the Tech That Matters It’s You 287 Once through the Looking Glass, What New Possibilities Await? 287 A Few Final Words from a TeeMonster 288 Index 291

Get the essential gear for taking your stream liveDiscover the tricks for building a fan communityGo beyond video games and stream any live event Build a Streaming Community on Twitch Twitch got its start as a live-streaming platform for gamers, and now it's the most popular live-streaming platform out there. Twitch hosts live entertainment of all kinds: concerts, conferences, podcast recording sessions, and even pro sports. If you're new to streaming, Twitch For Dummies will initiate you, with advice on how to build and optimize your Twitch channel. Podcasting For Dummies author Tee Morris guides you through starting a channel, streaming games or events, interacting with your audience, and overcoming tech glitches. Inside... Streaming directly from your gaming console or PCCreating your Twitch profileSuccessful streaming strategiesBuilding a streaming studioInteracting with your audienceTips for using offline timeTurning Twitch into a source of incomeStreaming beyond games

Introduction 1 Part 1: Getting Your Game On 5 Chapter 1: Welcome to the World of Twitch 7 Chapter 2: Building a Streamer’s Studio 29 Chapter 3: Making First Impressions 45 Chapter 4: And We’re Live! (Wait, We’re LIVE?!) 59 Chapter 5: Improving Your Stream: Being Your Own Harshest Critic 75 Part 2: Creating Your Broadcasting Studio 91 Chapter 6: Streaming without Constraints: Streaming from a PC 93 Chapter 7: Setting Schedules and Social Media 115 Chapter 8: Bells & Whistles: Nifty Add-Ons for Your Twitch Stream 133 Chapter 9: Setting the Stage 149 Part 3: Getting Busy with the Business of Twitch 161 Chapter 10: Let’s GOOOOO, Chat: Welcome to the Show! 163 Chapter 11: The In-Between Streams 179 Chapter 12: From Hobby to Side Hustle to Full-Time Job? 201 Part 4: Beyond the Console 221 Chapter 13: Building Your Twitch Community 223 Chapter 14: Twitch Etiquette 239 Chapter 15: Game Over: Twitch Outside of Gaming 255 Part 5: The Part of Tens 269 Chapter 16: Ten Twitch Streamers Who Influenced the Author 271 Chapter 17: Ten (or More) Life Lessons from Twitch 281 Index 291