why (and how) to make a STARTING SOON screen for your twitch stream!

Hi friends! Today we're discussing the ins and outs of a starting soon screen for your livestreams! For some reason this topic is hotly debated?? So it's really up to you if you use one or not, but I find them very useful!

Also! The first Wednesday of October (Oct 6th) at 7pm EST will be our October livestreamed Q&A! I misspoke in the video lmao, it's not next week o_o

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Links mentioned:

How to Add a Countdown:

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0:00 - intro
0:33 - examples of other "starting soon" in media
1:34 - why streamers use starting soon screens
2:37 - why I use a starting soon screen
4:08 - how long should a starting soon screen be?
4:30 - when should you start using a starting soon screen?
4:58 - how to build a starting soon from scratch in OBS
12:13 - other ways to get a starting soon screen
14:25 - where to commission an artist
14:37 - final thoughts / outro

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[HeyShadyLady]

I misspoke at the end of the video! The first Wednesday of October (Oct 6th) at 7pm EST will be our October livestreamed Q&A! (it's not next week o_o)

[MoonQueenWolf]

I think 4 minutes is a pretty good amount of time for a starting soon screen, since you can run a 3 minute ad around 30-45 seconds in, have it end before the starting soon screen does, and still have around 40 minutes where prerolls are disabled for everyone coming in after

[keetkabu]

love love lovee these tutorials as a newbie streamer!! would love a video/tutorial on implementing music in stream (how to get it into OBS/do you just play it?, best sources for royalty free music, can we ever play copyrighted music? etc.) !!:) thanks for all your videos

[EmJarratt]

It's funny, as a viewer I didn't enjoy the starting soon screen, but someone who's been doing some behind the scenes "research" into the streamer realm makes me appreciate a funky starting soon screen lol. I've dedicated the last few days of my free time to actually working on getting my physical set up together (treating it as this mini project, might be helping with my mental work up to it as well) - I used a bunch of content from placeit and used photopea for the first time. Thank you so much for pulling together this series <3

[OverTurtles]

As far as the optimal length of the countdown, I really think it's subjective. I personally try to start my stream at around the "2 minutes remaining" point, but I don't share the link/promote it (like on Twitter for example) until about the 1 to 1.5 minute point.

My reasoning for doing that is because for me personally, I've never really had anybody show up to the start of my own stream before (and if they have, it's super rare) and typically I don't expect new viewers to stick around my "starting soon" screen for 5-10 minutes because they'd likely end up leaving to find somebody else to watch. Plus, in my personal experience (hence my answer being subjective), those that did show up to my streams (let alone chat) usually have done so at some point after the starting soon screen anyway.

In addition, I more so use the "starting soon" screen to mentally prepare myself for the stream.

Anyway, great video Shady!

[whoisdelaney]

as a new streamer this was so helpful:) i just made the coolest starting stream tysm!!

[miamicarey]

Just wanted to say - you're awesome! You've given me many insights in how to improve as a new/small streamer. Keep it up and thank you for the content you create! 😊

[LillysStrawberry]

I just became an affiliate on twitch, I don’t think I ever would have started streaming if I didn’t let myself learn one thing at a time, I started with showing just my game play, I just added a face cam and I added a follow notification yesterday, let yourself go at a pase that works for you

[kentmont]

This helped a lot. I just settled for a line of text, which was quite boring. Thanks!

[theehollyl]

yes this was so helpful i am a new twitch streamer just getting started thank you so much!

[dj_rambo_nz]

The shift key trick on OBS was great. Thanks!

[Dstorte]

Thank you! This helped A LOT as a new streamer.

[jevvvNZ]

I know this was posted a year ago but thank you for demonstrating how to make a Starting Soon from scratch!
Regarding how long before- I have my (premade) Starting Soon 10 minutes before I get on camera. One of the reasons is bots - I noticed that a bunch of bots used to arrive in my channel about 7-8 minutes after I hit Start button and figured if I start stream more that that then I can deal with them before I actually come on screen. It also gives my various socials time to get the notification out and regulars to see it.

[MrTytsPerkins]

I love your videos! All the crazy stuff I do on my stream now is all thanks to you! Thank you so much!!

[mynamesmochi]

not sure if you realize but halfway through the video, the audio starts to play in mono and only goes into one ear cup

[saphiernicolas]

Hey thanks for this video it was helpful. I made an overlay, starting soon and BRB screen but I couldn't figure out how to apply it cuz I use my phone for the stream and I was hoping you'd make a video about how to connect the phones camera and the mic to twitch studio?

[GhazalH]

I personally use a starting screen soon because sometimes I dont load my game right away so I need time to set it up

[tatumkahlo]

This was super helpful, thank you! <3

[SecretlySeven]

I think the best solution is to go live when you go live. Do a just chatting situation till you are all gathered but no viewer prefers a just starting scene to a just chatting opening scene. At the end of the day what we do has to be for the viewers. No different than TV. People are going to flock to what entertains them. If Bob goes live and is entertaining from minute one but Mary goes live with 10 minutes of no entertainment people go to Bob's stream and end up staying. From the minute you hit live till the minute you hit stop it's 100% if success is your goal.

[HeyItsEmilyLove]

You’re so helpful and I just love the way you speak. Thank you for these videos. Personally I am definitely going to use a starting soon screen and I’ll be setting mine for 3 minutes. Also, I’m about to follow you on twitch 😊