Attending Streamer University! -

Preamble

While streaming I have a command ‘!created’ which allows people to know when they first started with their Twitch account. In about April, I think, I will have been on the platform for 10 years. Similarly, on YouTube, I recently shared a video that I made 10 years ago! However, I am still not where I want to be with my content creation. So I decided I need to do something about it. It’s time to attend university!

Author’s Note: I really like that @streamlabs are running this course but I am disappointed that they are using it to promote their own platform. In order to get to the next section, I need to stream 5 hours using their multi-stream platform. Are they running this course for themselves or the content creators?

Which course am I attending?

I once saw a course on Facebook by the ‘infamous’ blue-haired ninja about streaming. I was very tempted to complete it but time and money weren’t the best back then.

However, I received an email from @streamlabs inviting me to join their streaming university. I did check with some other streamers and they had not received a similar email so I either signed up for it unknowingly or they have seen my streams and know I need help.

I have listened and read the first section and thought I would give it a go and record my progress on this blog. I have done this before I know, but nothing really changed from it, so second attempt here we go!

The Why?

Motivation

Okay, first up what motivates me. Well, I enjoy it immensely. Often when I have had a bad day at work I do just think -‘ I’m streaming tonight’ and have a smile. Although I do find it difficult at times, I know that it helps with my anxiety. I made a video about how my self-esteem has suffered in the past and how I am working on it. Streaming definitely helps this. I put myself out there to cope with the responses rather than just hiding away in my own world. I love making content and the live aspect of streaming. I would like to do it full time. This is definitely a dream and does motivate me. But I also want to be good at it. I want to feel that I have done a good job and that I might even be someone that people aspire to be like.

Focus

This is all about what we need to stay true to and what we have to accept that we need to give up. Well, I have a full-time job which needs a lot of time, but apart from this, my life is basically content creating. Even on a weekend, it is composed of writing, streaming, GMing, reading and learning. I don’t go out and I don’t have a group of friends who are always asking me to go out. I do watch some television at times, but I try and use this as downtime. Basically apart from my job, which I am going to work on reducing the commitment to, I have nothing else, so I think I have this focus in the bag!

Authenticity

I’m really struggling with this one. I am finding it hard to separate this from the motivation one. On the course it states the following;

"looking deep down within yourself to understand why you are embarking on this journey will enable you to bring your best self forward as a creator. This is critical. Only you know your true self, and you will have a higher chance of succeeding by being yourself rather than acting as someone else."

Streamlabs University Tweet

I am not sure how this differs from my motivation. I do recognise that I am a very different sort of streamer and I am not actually prepared to change this. I don’t swear, I am old and I don’t drink alcohol. I also know that I am not the best at the games but I am working on this. It’s taking me a while to work out which games I enjoy and these definitely come into the MMO type.

I know I have changed over the past 10 years and I do hope this is for the better. I don’t have the abundance of self-confidence that other people have but I am working on this and I need to work on not letting that show on the streams. I do want to come across as super positive and be the sort of streamer that people watch because of the person rather than the game.

Outro

That was a little harder than I thought. I have had to do a lot of thinking while writing this which I am assuming is a good thing. Next on the list is to look at goals, but that is going to be the next blog post. I’ve captured it on Asana and it will appear within the next weeks or so.

Thank you for accompanying me on this journey, you are a great travelling companion!