The opening test
TikTok distributes LIVE in waves. The first wave is small. If watch time and interaction hold, the next wave is bigger. That is why shows tend to climb after fifteen to twenty minutes and why quitting at ten minutes guarantees a dead room.
Never open with housekeeping. No waiting for people, no sound checks, no asking where everyone is from. Open on the product, the price and the reason to stay. Give the first wave something to watch and they carry you into the second.
Thumbnail, title and timing
The LIVE cover image and title decide whether a scrolling user taps in. Use a close crop of the product with a readable price. Vague titles like Come and chat get scrolled. Titles naming the product and the offer get tapped.
Post two or three short videos in the hour before you go LIVE. Those videos pull people to your profile while the LIVE ring is showing. It is the cheapest traffic source available and most sellers skip it entirely.
When the show itself is the problem
If you are getting viewers and losing them inside twenty seconds, reach is fine and the content is the fault. Watch the replay with the sound off. If nothing is moving on screen, there is no reason to stay.
Fix it with physical action. Unbox, pour, swatch, fold, weigh, apply. Hands in frame at all times. A host sitting still and describing a product will always lose to a host doing something with it.