With content creation comes an array of traits such as, identifying one’s own strengths and weaknesses, the ability to captivate an audience by pulling in viewers, and being able to maintain their attention.
As content creators, we all want people to be able to feel comfortable enough to engage with us on our designated platforms. Sometimes your attention may be held by the most talkative people participating in your stream. However, we also want to pay close attention to those who prefer to lurk within a stream and those who silently watch your older content. Both are incredibly valuable and ethical within an art form such as content creation. Just like us, they are people, and we need to be able to hold onto their attention and keep ourselves occupied in order to keep them entertained.
Statistically, the average attention span of a person is generally 8.25 seconds. There’s a wide variety of reasons as to why someone may show up to a live broadcast, view or react and comment on a past video. The next time you are live broadcasting, ask yourself a few questions.
When someone enters your chat, regardless of what platform your live broadcast is featured on, how do you greet them? Do you have a catchphrase that you say every time? Do you simply welcome them and continue on with your stream, or do you greet them by asking them how their day was? What about asking them how they came across this current broadcast? What do you say or do that makes you stand out? Your job is to spark their interest and encourage someone to stay after those eight seconds are up. By asking yourself these kinds of questions, you can gain clarity on how you approach every viewer, regardless of their level of participation.
The average attention span of an audience such as your viewers is around seven minutes. While many content creators may debate on this topic by noticing a deflation in viewership before seven minutes, many get confused between the average attention span of a general person and the average attention span within a typical audience. Within those seven minutes, how do you react and talk to people while multitasking, are you able to focus on gameplay while chatting with others? Being able to spark an interest to a wider variety of the audience within two to five minutes increases your chances of holding the viewership for longer than the typical seven minutes.
Every content creator has their own identity when it comes to who they are as a person, as well as their public brand and community. Being able to capture their attention both individually and alongside the audience as a whole can arguably be viewed as an art form within itself. Each creator has their own method, style, and plans they must execute in order to conquer this massive hurdle. If one strategy does not work, try a different method. If your current methods are working and you’re noticing an increase in engagement, then why fix something that isn’t broken?
