How to plan out your stream (Twitch/YouTube)

Last Updated on 02/09/2022 by Dean

This is a comprehensive guide on how to plan out your stream.

Have you been looking for a way to improve your stream? A way to keep yourself talking?

This article will teach you how you can plan out your stream beforehand and make every live stream a source of entertainment.

It’s easy to think stream plans are overrated and unnecessary when you don’t know whether successful streamers actually use them.

After all, most streamers aren’t exactly shouting from the rooftops how much preparation went into their stream.

But some do.

This makes sense because if you’ve ever entered a Ludwig stream, you’ll notice that it is chock-full of entertainment.

Here’s what a typical Ludwig stream could look like:

This type of stream has to be well planned.

Without proper planning, he wouldn’t have been able to invite a guest streamer.

The structure of his stream would be all over the place. The challenges, if there would even be any wouldn’t be as entertaining. His stories, wouldn’t have the same effect.

These are all things that require careful planning and Ludwig doesn’t hide that fact.

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You should start your planning of every stream with an outline.

This is a blueprint that you will recycle every time you plan a new stream.

Here’s an example of such an outline.

By simply using the outline above, you can make your stream infinitely more interesting and entertaining!

First, your stream should always have an objective.

Here’s an example of a stream objective:

An objective like that gives you a goal for the stream. Simultaneously, it works as an enticing title to draw people in and it will keep viewers hooked as they want to see if you can actually beat the game.

Once you have an objective, you’ll need a fallback for when you run out of things to talk about. therefore you should always have an interesting story on hand.

This could be any story from your personal life. Maybe you have a funny breakup story, or you’ve done something in the past that was super embarrassing back then but makes a great story now.

Such a story will make your viewers laugh, ask questions or even share their own stories.

Finally, you can have some questions planned out that you can ask your viewers.

But don’t just copy this outline, use it as a blueprint and add your own ideas to it, it’s your stream!

Once you have your outline, you can write it into a script that you will follow throughout your stream.

You can write this out in a word document that you can bring out on a second monitor, use an app on your phone or simply use a legal pad that you have on hand.

Having a script will make it easy to keep track of where you are in your stream as well as make sure you don’t forget to do anything you had planned.

Here’s an example of a script:

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Aside from planning your daily stream, you should also plan your stream schedule for the week.

What days are you going to stream that week?

By making a stream schedule, you’ll keep yourself more accountable.

If you plan to stream on Monday, Wednesday and Friday that week, you are much more likely to stick to it.

On top of that, you will be able to share this schedule with your viewers! So they can plan your next stream in their calendar as well!

While you are planning your weekly stream schedule, you also have the time to think about your collaborations.

Which streamers are you going to invite and play with that week?

Odds are if you reach out on the day itself, they will be busy. But if you plan your schedule a week ahead of time you won’t run into this problem.

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I cannot stress this enough in my articles: if you want to be a better streamer, you need to start paying attention to what other streamers are doing right.

I often see streamers asking for advice lead with ‘I don’t watch other streamers but…’.

This is the wrong mindset to have. You can learn SO much from others. And people do it all the time. Soccer players improve by studying other soccer players, not just by practicing and honing their own skills.

FPS superstars such as TenZ, S1mple, or Shroud wouldn’t be where they are today if they never studied the playstyles of other teams and their players.

Youtubers (and streamers for that matter) take notes from each other all the time.

Not watching other streamers but trying to become a streamer is like accepting the job as a talk show host without having ever watched a talk show.

You can plan out a stream as much as you want, if you don’t have proper talking points, your stream will not be very entertaining.

If you find yourself struggling to keep talking on stream, read this article 👉 How to talk on stream.

Planning a stream takes time, especially when you are new to it.

To come up with original ideas, you’ll have to do some research. This includes watching streamers on Twitch and Youtube and taking inspiration from them.

If you wait until the last minute to plan your stream, you’ll find it hard to come up with original ideas.

Planning a stream is important and part of being a streamer. If you slack on it, it will show.

You might read this article and think ‘Woah! This is eye-opening’ only to be disappointed by your very first stream plan.

You are new to this. Don’t expect to come up with a game-breaking stream plan on your first try.

These things take time, and most importantly: trial and error.

Instead, see it as the new standard for your stream. Tell yourself that from now on, you’ll plan all your streams. You’ll dedicate time to researching other streamers and improving your stream plan every week.

Imagine you are at the foot of the mountain and you are dedicated to getting to the top. It won’t happen overnight, but slowly you will make your way higher and higher.

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