The going-live checklist is the pre-broadcast routine that catches setup issues before the audience sees them. Run the checklist every stream. The 3 minutes it takes prevents the embarrassment of going live with a missing source, broken audio, or wrong category.

The checklist items: OBS scenes load correctly (open OBS and verify each scene previews properly), audio levels test (speak into the microphone and verify the audio meter peaks at the right level), webcam preview check (verify the webcam is working and your face is well-lit), category and title set (the platform's stream details reflect what you are about to do), Discord posted (announce that you are going live), Wi-Fi disabled and ethernet confirmed, background apps closed, water and snacks within reach.

The discipline: print the checklist or pin it to your second monitor. Run it linearly. Do not skip items because they "always work." The item you skip is the item that breaks the stream.

The result: streams that start clean. Audiences notice consistency in production quality, even when they do not consciously articulate it.