23 fun things to do on a live stream

Intro

If you want the popularity of your live streams to grow, you have to engage your audience. Your viewers are more than just viewers — they’re a community. They commit part of their day to watching your stream, looking for entertainment as well as human interaction. Even if you’re a gaming streamer, interacting with your community is a must if you want to connect with your viewers.

Think about your favorite broadcasters. Why do you always return to their channels? You like something they do, how they look, how they behave, or what they say and how they say it. They’re charismatic, humorous, or just downright entertaining. So if you want a loyal audience that subscribes and tunes in each time you go live, do the same as your favorite streamers — be more entertaining!

Easier said than done, right? But not to worry; we’ve come up with some excellent ideas for fun things to do on a live stream to help you out.

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🤩 Top-notch fun live stream ideas:

1. Plan a spontaneous live session. Scheduling streams is important, but being spontaneous from time to time may bring you a bunch of new viewers. Go live during a popular time of day with an interesting piece of content and you might be surprised at the engagement you get.
2. Show off your streaming setup (behind the scenes). A sneak peek at your setup and the equipment you use will help your audience get to know you better. It also provides them with some useful live streaming insights. Fans who’ve learned something always come back for more, don’t they?
3. Organize a Q&A session. A Q&A stream boosts interaction, draws more people in, and helps your viewers connect to you more personally. In today’s world, people appreciate authenticity. Either write some questions beforehand or ask viewers to send questions via chat.
4. Do a house tour. You’re building a relationship with viewers. Imagine a live stream house tour, like taking one of your classmates home to show off your room when you were a kid. It’s fun and offers a look into who you are. Just be sure not to give any info away about your address or let people find your physical location. Safety is important!
5. Share your expertise. Whether you’ve got great tips on setting up audio for live streaming or you want to share your experience with stream scheduling and brand collaborations, your viewers will love to learn. Harris Heller is an excellent example of how it’s done.
6. Newsjacking is an awesome way to jump up in viewer ratings and enjoy more publicity. Connecting to a trendy news story isn’t super original, but it’s a very effective way to amp up views on your streams. TWiT does it well on their Twitch channel.
7. Create a brief tutorial of a tool you use. Show viewers how you design your streaming channel overlays or how you manage your live chat. Make it quick and easy for your viewers to absorb. Showing your skills will build up your authority and draw more attention to your streams.
8. Plug in your networking skills and invite an influencer or colleague for a live interview. Interviews liven up your streaming sessions and let you tap into your guests’ audience as well as your own. An amazing example of engaging interviews is Joe Rogan’s podcast.
9. Share your thoughts on an event in the live streaming industry, then invite your audience to participate in a poll on the topic. Polling is sort of like gamification and provides an interactive element your audience will appreciate.
10. A quiz will get your audience thinking. People love taking quizzes — especially in real time. Quizzes require thorough preparations, though. Make sure the answers to your questions are somewhat humorous and not too difficult.
11. Arrange a challenge or bet. There are so many crazy things you can challenge yourself or your viewers to do. Try something like what MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) once did. People love challenges, and the sillier, the better!
12. Cook your favorite dish. Wouldn’t it be fun to demonstrate your cooking and eating skills? A live stream dedicated to eating and interacting with the audience actually has a name. It’s called a mukbang, made popular in South Korea. Show your audience how to prepare a dish, then eat it together!
13. Eat sour candies live. Have you ever watched one of those “trying sour jelly beans live” videos? They’re hilarious, and all you need to pull it off is a packet of candy. A more general version of this activity could be picking up the most random or oddest foods you can find at the grocery store and sampling them live for your viewers!
14. Talking to your viewers may be as much fun as challenging them. Ask them (and yourself) open-ended and thought-provoking questions like “What would I advise my younger self?” With this type of content, you can get an interesting and in-depth conversation going with your viewers.
15. Take your viewers out. Head out to your favorite coffee shop, hit up a local street concert, make your way through a farmer’s market, or do whatever it is you like to outside the house. Audiences love to see parts of your real life, which is what makes IRL streaming so appealing.
16. Performing a talent on a live stream is hugely popular among live stream hosts in China, with some of them making up to $40 million per year doing so. And you don’t have to know how to sing or play an instrument to entertain people. Whatever talents make your real-life friends happy are sure to please your virtual audience too!
17. Arrange a flash sale. Do you have merch? You can promote it and sell it at a live flash sale. It may sound gimmicky, but it works. If you have high-quality merch or products you’ve worked hard to develop, then why not? It’s not like you’re selling your bathwater or anything.
18. Play dress-up or cosplay on your stream. How fun would it be to dress up as your favorite movie character? You don’t have to wait until October 31 to do it, either. Surprise your viewers at any time. Make it more interactive by challenging your viewers to copy your look and send pictures during your next stream.
19. Host a giveaway contest. Live contests are exciting and a proven way to boost views and add subscribers. People love competing in giveaways, and they love receiving prizes even more. This kind of event helps your live stream get noticed — especially if you leverage your social media to spread the word.
20. Guide viewers through a meditation session. Do you use mindfulness and meditation in your daily life? Then share it with your viewers! It’ll take some prep work, and after the session is over, you can ask viewers to let you know their thoughts.
21. Get crafty. Arts and crafts are the perfect activity for a live stream, whether you’re doing a tutorial or just letting viewers watch as you work. Show your audience how to make cute crafts for an upcoming holiday, or challenge yourself to craft something unique out of random materials.
22. Lead a workout session. Live streaming doesn’t have to be sedentary. Get up and get moving, and encourage your viewers to do the same. You don’t have to limit yourself to the Wii Fit channel on Twitch, either. Come up with your own routine, or teach a dance lesson instead! There are plenty of ways to get active and have fun with your audience.
23. Do a live stream fundraiser. Going live to raise money for a cause you care about will attract others who are interested in the same cause and may get you some new loyal viewers.

    Boost your fundraising efforts with multistreaming; spread the word and choose from 30+ social channels (YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, and many others) to stream at once. Restream makes multistreaming a breeze. Read our multistreaming guide to get started!

To be a good host, you not only need great content ideas, but you should also be generally pleasant and entertaining to watch. Now that we know what to do on a live stream, let’s discuss some things you should not do.

🙈 What to avoid when live streaming

A few things that may turn off your audience are:

• Alcohol consumption. Consuming alcohol live is usually never a good idea. Even if you do not get a penalty from the streaming platform, you still risk embarrassing yourself in front of your crowd whilst intoxicated.
• Spamming your streaming URL into somebody else’s community! Shamelessly promoting yourself on another streamer’s channel is extremely bad etiquette and will not entice viewers to come watch your stream.
• Keeping silent during your stream. A quiet stream is like a nightmare on Twitch. Imagine sitting there for three hours straight with only ten whole words to say!
• Leaving for long periods of time during your scheduled live stream. You’re scheduled to go live, so stay in front of your camera almost the entire time. If you get up and leave, people will not tune into your stream next time.
• Arranging events, quizzes, talent shows, etc. without preparation. If you don’t have time to prepare, pick an easier activity.
• Bitter talk. Some people like to gossip, but if it is too much and becomes toxic, viewers will leave.
• Copying somebody else’s style. Viewers will notice instantly, and the reveal will not be pretty.

We also created a guide of things you should absolutely avoid doing during your live stream, and most streaming platforms mention prohibited activities on live streams.

Let’s wrap up

There are plenty more fun things to do on a live stream — this list is just the beginning! The more you stream and engage with your community, the easier the ideas will come. But it pays to break out of your comfort zone every once in a while.
By choosing to branch out and spice things up for your viewers, you’re adding value to your content. And once you’ve decided to invest more time and effort in your streaming career, you might as well use progressive multistreaming tools like Restream to help you with audience building.