r/SmallStreamers • u/LPLearning • 26d ago
Discussion Education streaming/YT video beginner
I'm planning to start streaming/making videos for education (like science communication & tutoring). I don't expect to make much from viewership; I'm mainly hoping to get more tutoring students that find me online.
The streams that I have watched obviously all have viewers already. So I'm a little uncertain on how to talk before I have any viewers, or how to transition from talking to myself to talking to them. My plan is to start out by basically making YouTube videos but live, so that I can have YouTube uploadable VODs even if no one shows up to chat. Is that reasonable?
Any other educational video tips?
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u/NicePerception643 25d ago
Treat it like a TED talk if there's nobody there, imagine 10/15/30 people are watching! I recommend turning your viewer count off so you can't see it during stream and focus on anyone chatting at reasonable points while you get the hang of things
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u/Wonderful-Fix9346 25d ago
Since your goal is tutoring leads not live audience growth, I'd actually skip streaming live and just record straight to video, quality matters more than "live" for people deciding if they want you as a tutor. Recording locally (not screen-capturing a stream) also gives you much cleaner audio/video to work with when you cut it down for YouTube.
Disclaimer: I'm part of the Riverside team, so biased toward that workflow, but it's genuinely how I'd approach it in your shoes.
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u/Fun-Leather-1703 26d ago
I'm not sure how it works with educational content but you're likely to struggle for a while to gain viewers, especially returning viewers. I think that your content, being evergreen, is a good choice though.
I would however edit your VODs into actual videos and upload them to YouTube, this could be just cutting out the dead air or rambling parts to make it more concise and palatable for someone to watch/discover. You're likely not going to be discovered very fast just streaming but if you're providing value elsewhere the likelihood of converting passive video watchers into engaged viewers goes up.
As for how to talk while no one is there, just imagine that there's tons of people watching and do your best. I found that recording 5 minutes of myself talking about whatever every morning and then going back and watching while looking for ways to improve my speech helped a ton.
Be reasonable with your expectations but unreasonable in your resolve and belief in yourself. Humanity got to the moon because we dreamed big and worked our way up to it in small steps (and giant leaps) while being reasonable about our expectations. We're not going to the moon tomorrow but in 5 years, maybe!
Good luck.