Communication Skills: Enhancing On-Camera Presence, Public Speaking, and Engagement

Streaming is a performing art. It involves being able to master the intricate art of connecting with your audience virtually, making sure that you form relationships with them even though you’re not together in a room. It’s about being entertaining enough that they stay and support you during your present and future streams. Thus, it’s essential for a streamer to learn about presentation and communication skills; specifically, how to attract and keep the audiences’ attention. Read on below to learn more about these.

1. Non-verbal Communication

When it comes to on-camera presence, nonverbal communication plays a crucial role. Your body language, facial expressions, and gestures can convey as much, if not more, than your spoken words. Maintaining eye contact with the camera lens simulates direct eye contact with your viewers, creating a sense of connection and engagement. Remember to smile genuinely, as it not only reflects positivity but also helps you give off a friendly, welcoming, and warm vibe with your audience. Of course, this might be a challenge when you’re streaming games, but looking at the camera whenever you can makes a world of difference than if you’re just looking at your screen the entire time while talking.

It may take a while to become more comfortable working the camera for some and it may be tempting to just stream without a camera–and for this, an alternative may be the use of VTuber or PNGtuber models–but just know that allowing your viewers to see you can create a better sense of familiarity with you.

Non-verbals make up 70% of all communication, so starting with being conscious about your actions and gestures will go a long way in terms of improving your communication skills in general. Your body language can also reveal your true thoughts and intentions, so make sure you’re always aware about what you currently look like on-camera.

2. It’s Not What You Said, It’s How You Said It

Aside from non-verbals, you should also take advantage of your tonality. Pay attention to your vocal tone, pace, and clarity. A lot of streamers have distinctive tonalities that their audience recognizes and connects with. Some streamers speak with a high-energy pitch, while some are simply chill and unfazed. Whatever tone you use, make sure it’s one that resonates with your audience and is also comfortable for you. Generally, friendly and warm tones go a long way when starting out as they convey a welcoming vibe, but eventually you’ll start to develop a sort of “personality” in your vocal tone.

Additionally, practice speaking clearly and avoid mumbling. Engage your viewers by maintaining a conversational and enthusiastic tone that matches the mood of your current stream. When you’re welcoming viewers into your stream, make sure to REALLY make them feel welcome using warm tones.

3. Be Patient With Yourself

As with all skills, you won’t always get it right the first time. It takes a lot of time and more than a couple of streams to achieve your desired communication style, so make sure to always be patient with yourself. Take time to practice and do trial streams, and listen well to how your audience reacts. Eventually, you’ll get used to streaming and remove the stage fright from your system.

Again, communication is a SKILL, and all skills are developed over time. Take note of these tips and practice them during streams, so that you can hone and enhance yourself over time.