Hosting a webinar
Scheduling a Webinar
Unlike the other types of meetings, in Webinars you usually don’t want the participants to be able to draw on the whiteboard, upload documents, share their screens etc. Therefore, we advise you to first create meeting permissions specific for a Webinar (see Meeting Permissions in the account administrator hand book; only Account admins can create them). You can then schedule a Webinar using the newly created meeting permissions.
The Webinar itself has two types of participants, there are moderators and participants. A participant is a user who joins the Webinar but does not stream audio and video, the participant only consumes the presentation.
A moderator on the other hand is allowed to present, share audio and video, see the list of all participants, etc.
In a school the teacher would be the moderator and the participants are the students.
To schedule a Webinar you need to select ‘Webinar’ as the ‘Meeting type’. You also have to scroll down, open the ‘More options’ tab and select your created meeting permissions and select it to apply to this webinar.
Webinar links
Once scheduled you will have different meeting links: the “Participant link” for the participants and the “Speaker link” for the presenters and the “Moderator link” for the moderators. If you have invited participants to this webinar, they all received the “Participant link” only. You need to distribute the speaker and moderator links yourselves.
Move the mouse over the info icon next to a link to see who it is for and when it opens the room:
| Link | Who it is for | Room access |
|---|---|---|
| “Participant link” | “This link is for meeting participants.” | 15 minutes before start time |
| “Speaker link” | “This link is for webinar speakers.” | 1 hour before start time |
| “Moderator link” | “This link is for moderators.” | 1 hour before start time |
Click “For online events” to see more links:
- “Director link”: “This link is for hidden moderators to handle webinar logistics.” A director does not appear in the participant list.
- “TV link”: “This link provides a view-only display for large screens and recording.” It appears when the meeting uses the “Meeting room layout optimized for presentations”.
- “Backstage TV link” (if available): “This TV link also shows the stage while the webinar countdown is still running.” Like the “TV link”, it appears with the “Meeting room layout optimized for presentations”.
The “For online events” links also exist for boardroom meetings.
Hosting a Webinar
The Webinar has different features for the moderators and participants.
Moderators have access to a special webinar tab that lists all participants, shows all participants who raised their hand and displays a list of all questions asked by the participants.
The moderator can also answer those questions and grant special permissions to individual participants.
Participants on their side can ask questions and raise their hand to make them noticed. See the participant hand book.
Questions
Questions appear in the “Questions” tab. Click “Answer” below a question, write your answer and click “Send answer”. The question is then marked “Answered”. After the webinar, the questions and answers are in the summary (see After the meeting).
Whether participants may ask questions and raise their hand is set in the meeting permissions.
Raised hands and giving the floor
A raised hand shows as a hand icon in the “Participants” tab. Click it to lower the hand.
To let a participant speak, click the eye icon (“Give the floor”) next to the name; for a participant who dialed in by phone it is a microphone. The participant can now send audio and video. Click the crossed-out icon (“Stop audio and video”) to end it. If the maximum number of people sending audio and video is reached, stop someone else first.
Click the lock icon (“Meeting permissions”) next to a participant to give this person individual permissions, for example “Allow screen sharing”, “Allow whiteboard” or “Allow to send media”. Click “Update” to apply them. On some platforms the lock icon is not shown; then “Give the floor” also gives the participant the tools everyone may see.
Webinar configuration
The “Webinar” tab lets moderators change the webinar itself.
Online/offline (if available): Before the start, the webinar can be offline. Participants then see a countdown to the start time: “The presentation starts …”. Moderators and speakers already see the stage and can prepare.
- Switch on “Go offline” to close the room for participants. A banner reminds moderators: “The room is currently closed for participants.”
- Click “Go online” in the banner, or switch “Go offline” off, to open the room.
- Write your own text under “Customize offline text” and click “Publish offline text”. Participants see it instead of the countdown.
Your platform administrator decides whether online/offline is available.
Video presentation mode: Switch on “Enlarged video” to show the video larger.
