A show, not a webcam that happens to be on
The first five minutes need a spoken hello, what you are doing, and when the interesting part starts. People who raid in or browse categories will not wait through a mute desktop. Talk even if the viewer count is one. That one person is the test.
Recurring segments give people a reason to know what time it is inside the stream: a starting question, a mid-show challenge, an end screen where you raid or pick tomorrow. Dead air is not "being chill" if you also want new people to stay.
- Transitions: say you are switching scenes before the screen goes black.
- Ask chat a question you will actually read.
- Keep a note of three talking points so a quiet game does not become a quiet stream.
- Clip one moment before you close the software, while you still remember why it was funny.