When people use social media, sometimes they feel like they’re putting on an act for their followers. If you feel this way, then you are not doing it right. Being entertaining does not mean you need to exaggerate who you are to gain views. Online entertainment is about taking your best qualities and using them to create content that will bring joy to people watching it. Being a good entertainer is not an easy task. There are many things to keep in mind to stay genuine and appeal to the masses. It’s a balance we like to call a “Natural Entertainer”.
There are many ways to become an online personality and entertain your audience. On Clapper, you can do it through 3 features: Livestream, Radio, and Short-form video. But before we get to that, let’s start from the beginning and let’s make sure you have everything you need to be the best online entertainment on any social media platform.
Find Your Voice
A common misconception some people have is thinking that only extroverts can be good entertainers, but that’s far from the truth. The key to being a good entertainer is finding your voice within your specific community. This means finding out what is your role within your community, learning as much as you can, and start creating innovative ways to entertain.
Let’s say you’re a fossil collector and you’ve never been the most outgoing pea in the pot. However, someone talks to you about fossils and you can’t shut up about it. You have passion. So you might want to create a show where you bring one discovery of a fossil, tell your audience fun facts about it, and then let them ask questions. You might even take them on one of your expeditions.
Another example might be, you’re a singer, you’re very outgoing, but you want to elevate your performance and make it different. You can hop on a Livestream and do a “Make The Lyric” night, where your audience throws random words in the chat and you have to improvise and sing the words they give you. It’s not just you singing to a quiet audience, this time you’ve made them part of the show. Now, that’s entertaining.
The important thing about entertainment is that is a two-way street. If you can be entertaining, bold, and loud all by yourself, great, go for it. But if you have a harder way getting out of your shelf, involving your audience and having a passion for what you do can do the trick too.
The Art Of Public Speaking
Much like public speakers, being a Radio or Livestream host can include many of the tactics a public speaker holds on their belt. Here are a few general tips, adapted from Harvard DCE, to become a better speaker:
- Make a plan. There is no need to read a script but it’s always good to have a sense of direction in which your show will be going. Write some key points and go from there.
- Let your personality shine through. Are you dorky? Spontaneous? Vibrant? Mysterious? Let that all out!
- Understand who your audience is and cater to their needs. Ask yourself what kind of value can I bring to my community.
- Take feedback and run with it. It’s important that even though you might have a plan, you should always listen to your audience and maybe from their questions, a new idea might form to make the show more interesting.
Public Speaking On Livestreams
Livestream hosts have the opportunity to visually entertain their audience. So here are a few tips and tricks to throw the greatest show on your live:
- The ambiance. Set the mood. Set up a nice background and ambiance before your Livestream. Get creative with it.
- Lighting: Make sure you have either natural lighting or a ring light to help you out.
- Audio: Consider a quiet place to do your Livestream. People not hearing what you say can be a buzzkill.
- Steady Surface: Confidence is all about body language, so make sure your phone is somewhere steady so you can express yourself freely.
- Make eye contact. While in real life people staring at you can be intimidating, on your Livestream you can be relieved it will just be your face. Always look at the camera when talking to your audience, that’s how you make an intimate connection, even online.
- Read the chat. You don’t have to be constantly talking the entire time until you run out of breath. Take your time to look through the comments. Thank anyone who says nice things or even gifts you.
- Set your outline strategically. Nobody likes someone who is reading from a script. Make subtitles and key things you want to bring up and set the sheet either next to your phone or under your phone so you can keep track of topics.
An outline can look like this:
Public Speaking on Radio
While Radio is still going off the same principles of a Livestream, it’s still a whole different ball game. On the radio is all about what you listen to. Entertaining with only your voice is something hosts spend a lot of time perfecting over the years. However, if you are not a “natural entertainer” and still want to be a radio host. We got you:
- Make a nice script. Unlike the Livestream, on a radio creating a script is not only acceptable but encouraged. You might improvise in some parts, but having a clever script can take you far on a radio show.
- Don’t rehearse, just talk. Even though you might have creative punchlines and jokes written down, you want to be as natural as possible. Don’t just read, add your own personal twist and let that personality shine through your voice.
- Always leave room for questions or discussions. On radios, is easier to bring people up and have conversations with them. Allowing the public to be part of your show or ask any questions, elevates any radio and entertains more than just your voice for an hour straight. Consider having co-hosts to make it more fun.
Making Your Videos Entertaining
Short-form videos are thought to be the easiest way to entertain people. On videos, you can plan, re-shoot and edit to create the masterpiece you imagined. With such a massive amount of content out there, there is sometimes a little bit of the same old stuff. You want to make sure that you’re in a competition… with your own content. Always think of how to elevate your own videos. Some ways to do that are:
- The element of surprise: Keep things interesting and keep your audience on their toes. You can do that by having punch lines at the end of videos or having different challenges each week.
- Requests from the audience: Sometimes people think of cool ideas in the comments. Take some ideas and bring them to life.
- Start with a hook: With short attention spam spreading faster than Covid, a good way to keep your audience engaged is to have a good hook at the beginning of the video.
- Provide Value: Teach your audience something new every day, so they look forward to your next videos.
- Make a series: If you have a successful video that people enjoyed, consider making it into a series.
It’s All About Confidence
Ultimately, confidence comes from passion. If you love your content, your confidence will show. Theodore Rosevelt said, believe you can and you’re halfway there. Think of it like believing in yourself can take you so far and passion will give you the strength to actually get it done. Remember that the more you try the better you’ll get at it. So all you have to do is take that first step.