The webinar room is the broadcast page for your live and test webinars.
There is only one difference between the webinars rooms for test and live webinars, which is the ability to add test viewers and/or hosts. Other than that, both versions of the webinar room function in the same way, although test webinars are not recorded like live webinars are.
Opening the webinar room
The live webinar room can be accessed starting from 3 hours before the scheduled broadcast. The test webinar room, on the other hand, can be accessed at any time. To open the webinar room, follow the steps:
Click on your webinar.
At the top of your page, click on 'Open live webinar' or 'Dry run' depending on what your purpose is.
Enter the webinar room!
If your live webinar is scheduled to take place more than 3 hours in the future, the button will instead display ‘Here you will open your webinar’.
If this is your first time opening a webinar room, WebinarGeek will ask for permission to use your camera and microphone. Choose ‘Allow’ and the preperation screen will open.
Preparation room
Joining webinar before start
This is the screen you will see when entering a webinar that has not started yet:
The first icon toggles your camera. If this icon is red, your camera is disabled.
The second icon toggles your microphone. If this icon is red, you’re muted. The audio indicator below the settings will also display a warning to indicate this.
The third icon toggles your virtual background. If this icon is dark blue, you have a virtual background enabled.
Take a moment to configure your settings. Choose the correct camera and microphone and check the audio indicator below the video to make sure your chosen microphone is working properly. Don’t worry! This can all still be changed later.
When you’re done, click 'Enter webinar' to proceed to the webinar room.
Joining webinar after start
It is also possible to join a webinar after it has started. This comes with a few changes in the webinar preparation room. When entering the webinar preparation room of a webinar that has started, you will see the following screen:
Once you're done configuring your settings you can choose 'Join off stage' or 'Join stage' to proceed to the webinar room.
Connected presenters will immediately appear on screen for both viewers and presenters if they choose 'Join stage'.
Webinar room
The webinar room shows you how the webinar will appear to the viewer. Use the buttons below the video to control which elements you’d like to show.
The first icon either brings the presenter on stage or removes them from the stage. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + Alt + T to toggle this setting.
The second icon toggles your camera. If this icon is red, your camera is disabled. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + E to toggle your camera.
The third icon toggles your microphone. If this icon is red, you’re muted. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + D to toggle your microphone.
The fourth icon toggles your virtual background. If this button is blue, you're using a virtual background.
The fifth icon activates screen sharing. If this button is blue, your screen is being shared.
The sixth icon activates your presentation. If this button is blue, your presentation is being shared.
Please note! Toggling off the camera as a solo presenter when showcasing a presentation or screensharing will automatically hide your name placeholder while on stage. You can read more about this setting here.
Tip! To use the shortcuts on Mac you can substitute Ctrl for Cmd.
Changing settings in the webinar room
If you want to change your chosen camera or microphone during a webinar, click the cogwheel icon below the sidebar to your right.
This will open a window where you can change your camera and microphone. Make sure to use the audio indicator below the dropdown menus to check if your microphone is working properly.
Sidebar
The right side of the webinar room is dedicated to a sidebar that you use to control your content, operate the Q&A and use the chat.
The first tab contains lists of the stage and all attendees. You can use these lists to start conversations, ban people from the webinar, open their details and invite viewers to the stage. You can read more about this here.
The second tab contains your webinar content. This is where you control your presentation and start your video injections. You can read more about sharing a presentation in this article and more about video injections here.
The third tab contains the interactions you’ve created for the webinar. This is where you start those interactions and review the results during the webinar. You can read more about interactions here.
The fourth tab is the Q&A. Submitted questions appear in a list and you can choose which to answer. You can read more about this here.
The fifth tab contains the public, private and team chats. You can read more about this here.
The sidebar can be hidden or resized when necessary. Just press the 'Close sidebar' button or drag the left edge of the sidebar. You can also use the shortcut Ctrl + S to toggle the sidebar. To toggle the sidebar on Mac, substitute Ctrl for Cmd.
To navigate to a certain sidebar tab you can also use the shortcut Ctrl + alt + 1/2/etc.
Viewer count
Keeping track of your numbers during the webinar is easy with the viewer count interface. The viewer count is only visible to the webinar team. Your attendees cannot see it.
By default, the counter shows the current amount and total number of viewers, so you can keep yourself up-to-date with a quick glance. Keep in mind that the first number is the amount of viewers currently watching the webinar and the second number is the total amount of viewers that the webinar has had during that broadcast.
Click the counter to see more information, change the display to the percentage of your viewer limit and toggle the visibility of the viewer count. The additional information available when opening the viewer count menu is as follows:
The number of currently active viewers
The number of viewers that have participated in the webinar so far
The percentage of your viewer limit that’s currently in use
Select any of these in the menu to change the quick glance counter to the selected data. The first two can be selected simultaneously, but the percentage can only be shown on its own.
Coming up on your viewer limit? Click the ‘Upgrade now’ button to be redirected to the subscription page, where you can upgrade your plan to a higher viewer limit.
Hide viewer count from yourself
You can choose to hide the viewer count altogether by pressing ‘Hide viewer count’. It can be re-enabled by clicking the counter afterwards.
Please note! The “Total viewers” count is updated 15 seconds after someone new joins.
Changing the video layout
The main presenter can change the layout of the webinar when hosting a webinar with multiple presenters. To change the layout, click on the layout button below the sidebar on the right of the webinar room or use one of our shortcuts.
Currently, there are three options:
Grid layout
This layout makes the videos of all presenters the same size. To toggle this layout, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + alt + J.
Active speaker layout
This layout makes the video of the presenter that is currently speaking larger than the others. You can use the slider in the layout settings to change the ratio between the active speaker tile and other tiles. To toggle this layout, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + alt + L
Floating tile layout
This layout makes it possible to display the active speaker as a floating tile while sharing a presentation or screen sharing. You can choose the position of the tile in the layout settings. To toggle this layout, you can use the shortcut Ctrl + alt + K
Please note! Only team members with the correct abilities can change the webinar layout.
Starting a live webinar
Once you’re ready to host your webinar, click ‘Start live webinar’ or ‘Start dry run’ to go live. A pop-up window will appear asking you to confirm this and you will hear a subtle sound. When you start a live webinar, the recording will also start.
Please note! Only team members with the correct abilities can start the webinar.
The webinar will now start and the indicators on the webinar page will change to reflect this fact. On the left side, the status indicator will change to ‘LIVE’, while on the right side, the duration timer will start running. The number next to the viewers icon will show you how many viewers you currently have. This number is only visible to the webinar team. You can also make sure the number is not visible by clicking on the viewers icon.
It’s possible for the connection to stutter during a webinar. When this happens, you and your viewers will be notified. Sometimes, you may have to refresh the page. Don’t worry! You can resume your webinar as soon as your connection is back.
If you attempt to start your live webinar more than 5 minutes before its scheduled time, a notification will appear asking you if you’re sure that you want to start the webinar. This notification is there to prevent your viewers from missing part of your webinar as they cannot enter the webinar room until 5 minutes before the scheduled start time.
Ending a live webinar
Finished with your webinar? End it by clicking on ‘Stop webinar’ or 'Stop dry run' below the video.
Please note! Only team members with the correct abilities can end the webinar.
A window will appear to confirm that you’re sure you want to end the webinar. Click ‘End the webinar’. A subtle sound will play and you will no longer be visible or audible to the viewers and the recording will end.
If you configured a sales page and/or evaluation form, it will now appear for the viewers.
You can stay in the webinar room in order to keep track of the viewers that remain in the webinar. Our advice is to close the page once all the viewers have left, as they may still ask questions.
Please note! These controls are specific to live webinars only. Automated webinars start automatically at the scheduled time. On demand webinars start when the viewer presses play.
Managing co-presenters
As the main presenter, you can manage when co-presenters appear on camera and are audible. You can read more about that here.