{"id":2070,"date":"2021-03-03T21:50:53","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T21:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/?p=2070"},"modified":"2021-03-03T21:50:54","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T21:50:54","slug":"how-do-twitch-streamers-read-chat-while-playing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/how-do-twitch-streamers-read-chat-while-playing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do Twitch Streamers Read Chat While Playing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with your chat is one of the keys to growth. While popular streamers may have a chat that just looks like a wall of text that&#8217;s probably not what yours looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with chat is vital to building a community. Engage with your chat, ask questions and have a back and forth conversation with them. This is how you start to build out a small community.<br><br><strong>In this article we are going to cover:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Top Ways To Read Your Chat When Streaming<\/li><li>Best Way To Read Chat With Only 1 Monitor<\/li><li>The Best Place To Position Your Chat While Streaming<\/li><li>Should You Show Your Chat On Your Stream?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How To Read Your Chat When Streaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Depending on which software you are using to stream the method to view your chat may be different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Streamlabs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re streaming in Streamlabs you&#8217;re in luck. It has a built in chat widget function. When you fire up your stream you will see the chat to the right hand side of your preview. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"556\" src=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1024x556.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-150x81.png 150w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1536x834.png 1536w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50.png 1632w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/streamlabs.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Streamlabs.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This is how I read my chat. I will have it open on my second monitor. This allows me to view the stream preview and see what my stream is seeing as well as having the chat on the right hand side of the monitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">OBS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On OBS when you sign in with your Twitch account a chat box will pop up allowing you to drag it anywhere. If you have logged in and can&#8217;t see the chat box go to View &#8211;&gt; Docs &#8211;&gt; Chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are unable to find this feature you may be running on an older version of OBS. Don&#8217;t worry though there is a couple of other options to get your chat into OBS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>: Go to the chat section of your streaming platform<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Click on the the settings icon and select Popout Chat<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c-1024x480.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2087\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c-1024x480.png 1024w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c-300x140.png 300w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c-150x70.png 150w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c-768x360.png 768w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/b151fd2000789c0ce366c9dd3846584c.png 1072w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: When you click Popout chat you will get a pop out that you could use to view your chat although it is not yet integrated with OBS Studio. To add this to OBS Studio copy the URL that appears in the pop out window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Open OBS Studio<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 5<\/strong>: Go to View &#8211;&gt; Docks &#8211;&gt; Custom Browser Docks<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 6<\/strong>: In the first empty box give your chat a name and and in the box Labeled URL paste the URL from Step 3<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 7<\/strong>: Click Apply<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now you will see a dock-able window in your OBS Studio allowing you to read your chat alongside previewing your stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Streamelements OBS.live<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>If you&#8217;re streaming on OBS you can also add an extension to OBS called Streamelements. Just go to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/streamelements.com\/obslive\" target=\"_blank\">streamelements.com\/obslive<\/a> and follow the instructions to install.<br><br>Once installed you will be able to add docks to your OBS including your chat and also other alerts such as follows, bits, subscribers and donations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"954\" height=\"527\" src=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.52.24.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.52.24.png 954w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.52.24-300x166.png 300w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.52.24-150x83.png 150w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.52.24-768x424.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 954px) 100vw, 954px\" \/><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/streamelements.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Streamelements.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This plugin is optimised for performance minimising the amount of resources used when streaming to give you the most frames possible in game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">View Stream Chat On Your iPhone or Tablet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are logged into the Twitch App on your phone or tablet while streaming you will be able to use that device to see your Dashboard and read chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you don&#8217;t have much room on your monitors you can utilise your phone or iPad to read the chat while streaming.  Using a device like this is handy as it allows you to place it somewhere convenient to read without taking you away from the game too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How To Overlay Twitch Chat On Your Game<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you only have one monitor and you&#8217;re trying to stream you&#8217;re not alone. Streamlabs found that <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.streamlabs.com\/game-overlay-7bc980cac520\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">64% of streamers on Twitch<\/a> are only using one monitor.<br><br>Luckily there are some extensions that help you overlay your Twitch chat over your game so you can view your chat and play at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First off I&#8217;m going to show you how to do this if you&#8217;re using streamlabs then we&#8217;ll show you how to do it in OBS Studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Overlay Chat On Game in Streamlabs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Streamlabs have made it really easy to add a chat overlay  to your game allowing you to play while simultaneously interacting with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They have a built in feature called Game Overlay which display your chat on screen in a translucent format so it doesn&#8217;t intrude on you seeing important parts of your HUD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s how to set it up:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>:  Open Streamlabs and navigate to settings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Near the bottom of settings you will find a setting called Game Overlay<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: Toggle on &#8220;Enable in-game overlay&#8221;, &#8220;Show Chat&#8221;, &#8220;Show Recent Events&#8221; and &#8220;Toggle Positioning Mode&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: You will now see two boxes on your screen for Recent Events and Chat. You can position these in a position that won&#8217;t interfere with your game. You can also adjust the opacity so you can still see game elements behind the chat and recent events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"573\" src=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-1024x573.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-1024x573.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-150x84.jpg 150w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-768x430.jpg 768w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/fd5af8443621689e83483edc57e08f29-1536x860.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Streamlabs recommends running in windowed mode for your game as it may not work in full-screen mode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now you can game and stream on one monitor while being able to view your chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Cheap Second Monitor For Streaming<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously having chat overlay on your stream isn&#8217;t ideal. Once you have enough budget adding a second monitor to your stream could be a solid investment.<br><br>You can get a cheap 1080p monitor that will do the job for web surfing and reading chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I recommend checking out the AOC 24B2XH 24&#8243; Full HD IPS Monitor coming in at just over $100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"463\" height=\"368\" src=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bb71112d28c8c2c15544cbca9bbc357f.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2090\" srcset=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bb71112d28c8c2c15544cbca9bbc357f.png 463w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bb71112d28c8c2c15544cbca9bbc357f-300x238.png 300w, https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/bb71112d28c8c2c15544cbca9bbc357f-150x119.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">CHECK PRICE ON AMAZON<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wrapping Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Hopefully this article has helped you figure out the best way for you to view your chat while streaming. If you prefer another way I have not mentioned in this post let me know down in the comments so I can add it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read More From GetOnStream:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/cheap-elgato-camlink-alternative-amazing-20-capture-card\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cheap Elgato Camlink Alternative &#8211; Amazing $20 Capture Card<\/a><\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/10-best-gaming-chairs-for-streamers-in-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\">The 10 Best Gaming Chairs For Streamers<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/ludwig-stream-setup-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ludwig Stream Setup<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with your chat is one of the keys to growth. While popular streamers may have a chat that just looks like a wall of text that&#8217;s probably not what yours looks like. If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with chat is vital to building a community. Engage with your<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":2072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ub_ctt_via":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[99,69],"table_tags":[],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Scott Wilcox","author_link":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/author\/dmorneaumiladreusa-com\/"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50.png",1632,886,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-150x81.png",150,81,true],"medium":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-300x163.png",300,163,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-768x417.png",768,417,true],"large":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1024x556.png",770,418,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1536x834.png",1536,834,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50.png",1632,886,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-270x180.png",270,180,true],"contentberg-main":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-770x515.png",770,515,true],"contentberg-main-full":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-1170x508.png",1170,508,true],"contentberg-slider-stylish":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-900x515.png",900,515,true],"contentberg-slider-carousel":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-370x370.png",370,370,true],"contentberg-slider-grid-b":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-554x466.png",554,466,true],"contentberg-slider-grid-b-sm":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-306x466.png",306,466,true],"contentberg-slider-bold-sm":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-150x150.png",150,150,true],"contentberg-grid":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-370x245.png",370,245,true],"contentberg-list":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-260x200.png",260,200,true],"contentberg-list-b":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-370x305.png",370,305,true],"contentberg-thumb":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-87x67.png",87,67,true],"contentberg-thumb-alt":["https:\/\/getonstream.com\/app\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Screenshot-2021-03-03-at-08.23.50-150x150.png",150,150,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Scott Wilcox","author_link":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/author\/dmorneaumiladreusa-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":100,"uagb_excerpt":"If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with your chat is one of the keys to growth. While popular streamers may have a chat that just looks like a wall of text that&#8217;s probably not what yours looks like. If you&#8217;re a small streamer interacting with chat is vital to building a community. Engage with your","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2070"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2070\/revisions\/2092"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2070"},{"taxonomy":"table_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/getonstream.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/table_tags?post=2070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}