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The Just Chatting category on Twitch is one of the most popular categories for live streaming on the platform, nearly overtaking live stream gaming. If you’re looking for stream ideas for small streamers, starting a Just Chatting channel is a great way to start. In this blog, we’ll explain what “Just Chatting” is, how to stream Just Chatting on Twitch, and share a few tips on how to get started.
Twitch isn’t just for gamers anymore. The streaming platform has seen a recent expansion in live streaming categories, including what was once called IRL streaming and is now labeled “Just Chatting”. To strip the category to its bare bones, Just Chatting streaming involves a person talking to their audience through the webcam.
Since its introduction, Just Chatting on Twitch has expanded to even the most random of niches – from dancing to vtubers to live food reviews. Although this explosion in popularity has inevitably created saturation, it still offers streamers a chance at becoming extremely successful.
Starting a Just Chatting channel opens a channel to communicate and connect directly with your viewers, and have some down time away from high-intensity, high-energy streaming. And for your viewers, Just Chatting on Twitch can be more exciting and more intimate than other types of live streaming that feels programmed or unilateral.
As with every live stream, you need a good setup that matches the needs of your broadcast. This includes choosing a good camera, microphone, and streaming software, as well as putting together your lighting rig and background. Green screens are great, but Just Chatting viewers tend to want to see more of your real life.
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The sky’s the limit for what you can do with a Just Chatting stream, but if you’re unsure of where to begin or what to talk about, here are some Just Chatting stream ideas:
Just chat! It’s in the category title: talk to your viewers about whatever’s on your mind. You can answer questions from your live chat or request viewer questions beforehand. Talk about daily news, trending social topics, or anything else that is on your mind.
Live react to videos, films, or TV series. There’s something cathartic about watching someone else watch and react to something in real time, and comparing those to your own feelings. It also requires very little work on a streamer’s part other than finding something new to watch.
Show off your skills and talents. Play music, put together a fashion outfit, paint, build an advanced Lego set, and talk to your viewers about your activity of the day.
Take your viewers out and about. Whether you’re traveling in a new country or just in your neighborhood, invite your viewers to experience new places with you. Bring your camera, microphone and data connection to a café, restaurant, farmer’s market, or night market.
Invite guests to your Just Chatting stream. When colleagues, friends, and other streamers join on your Just Chatting channel, it takes some of the pressure off you to keep talking. This allows fellow streamers to share each other’s audiences and grow your regular viewership.
Let viewers take a peek behind the scenes. If you’re a regular Twitch streamer or run a YouTube channel, people are curious to see how you work. You might want to run a ‘private’ tour of your studio or streaming space, or show your editing process.
Review and sample something new. Try out a new food, skincare product, video game, or gadget. Unboxings are still very popular, and people enjoy watching live, honest reviews of things they might be interested in trying themselves.
Introduce your pets. Ever wanted to talk about your beloved dog, cat, hamster or pet fish for hours? Here’s your chance to do precisely that to an enthusiastic audience. You can live stream your pets, talk about pet care, or raise awareness about unique or exotic pets.
These are just a few ideas to get you started. Just Chatting is an incredibly diverse and flexible category, so you can fully play to your strengths, explore your interests, and use your favorite formats.
Once you decide what you want to Just Chat about, it’s time to create your Twitch channel and build your profile. Make sure to add an avatar or profile picture, Twitch banner, and offline banner. Fill out your basic info, and add links to socials and channels for viewers to make donations. (It can often take a while to be a Twitch affiliate, so you’ll need to find various ways of monetizing or making income off your Just Chatting live stream.)
Add tags for your channel that reflect your planned content. While it might be tempting to ride the wave of popular tags, misleading viewers will inevitably annoy them and damage your reputation in the long run.
Adding a Just Chatting overlay and streaming widgets to your live stream can boost your viewer participation and make your stream more engaging – including chat box widgets that bring your live chat onto the screen. You can also play around with creating your own live stream layout, hire someone to build you a custom-tailored overlay, or browse the range of Twitch overlays available online.
Here at uno, we’ve designed a wide range of animated overlays that are great for your first Just Chatting channel. Here are just a few options available for you to use for free:
Countdowns like our Circles-themed Fullscreen Countdown overlay don’t just build suspense. They give people time to join your channel and settle in before you start your scheduled Just Chatting stream.
If you’re looking to keep your overlays minimal, keep your graphics to the lower third section of your screen. Use one of our lower third overlays or tickers to instantly add a professional look to your broadcast. For example, our Talk Show Ticker overlay can be a great way to display short messages to your viewers.
If you’re chatting about trending news, use our On Air RSS News Ticker to display various RSS news feeds in the lower third.
Visualize the structure to your Just Chatting stream by displaying your planned talking points on screen. Our talking points overlays can be controlled to highlight your current topic, and come in a range of designs, formats, and can be customized and edited in real time – without requiring downloads.
Uno’s stream packs combine a number of live overlays, including lower third title banners, tickers, talking points, and even social bugs. Add them to your streaming software with a single link, and hide or display them throughout your Just Chatting stream easily through one interface.
Browse more options for your next live stream in the uno overlay library. And, if you’re stuck on ideas for Just Chatting streams, reach out to our Discord community of streamers and fans to get more ideas.
