The Interactive Webinar theme is similar to the Workshop theme. There is a stage to allow for the focus to be on presenters but the audience is in chat mode only, with no video and audio. In an Interactive Webinar Session, the audience can use the crowd emojis reactions below the stage as a fun way to engage!
Tip: This theme is great for Q&As and streaming. Up to 3000 people can be in a room with this theme.
Here's how inside a Webinar room looks!
To create a Webinar themed room, simply select the Webinar option when creating a new room.
Taking The Stage in an Interactive Webinar Themed Room
Once the Session starts, the stage will be empty and only the room owner or host will be able to take the stage by clicking on Take the stage.
Other participants will not see the option to take the stage, instead, they will see a message advising that someone will be on stage shortly.
Room owners, see here for details about customizing and managing the stage.
After clicking on the Take the stage button, you will then be asked to select your camera and microphone.
You can set your virtual background before joining the stage by clicking on the drop-down arrow next to the camera icon, then selecting Virtual background.
Once on stage, you will have access to the following options that regular participants within the audience do not have access to:
- Turn on/off your audio and video
- Use a virtual background
- Share your screen or a YouTube video
- Add another participant to the stage
- Leave the stage
Here's how it looks:
Adding Someone to the Stage
As the room owner or the host, you can choose to add any participant onto the stage. Here's how:
- Click on the Participants icon at the bottom right to open the Participants panel
- Locate the name of the participant in the list or use the search option if lots of people are in the room
- Hover over their name and click on the
Add to stage
The participant will then need to click on Accept from their end and they will be able to configure their video and audio settings before accepting as shown below.
The participant that is being invited to the stage can also decline the invite if they do not want to be added to the stage. If the invite is declined, you will be notified via a toast at the top of the screen:
Tip: Room owners and hosts can add themselves to the stage from within the Participants tab as well.
Additionally, there will be a banner displayed above the stage when another participant is there. Clicking on the Take the stage button at the top right here will add you (room owners and hosts) to the stage.
Webinar Theme On-Screen and General Limits
In an Interactive Webinar themed room, we recommend having:
- A maximum of 3000 participants in the room at a given time for best performance.
- A maximum of 4 people on stage at a time.
- Only 1 screen share at a time.
Highlighting Messages On-Stage
Room owners and hosts can highlight chat messages on stage by hovering over the message in the chat area and clicking on the Show message on Stage icon.
The message, the name of the participant, and their avatar will be displayed on the stage at the bottom left. It will remain there until it is removed by the host or room owner. You will also be able to tell which message is being highlighted on stage when looking in the chat as it will have a blue background as shown below:
To remove the message from the stage, simply hover over the message in the chat and click on the Remove from stage button that will appear.
Only one message can be displayed on stage at a time.
Interactive Webinar "Crowd" Emoji Bursts
Participants in the audience within an Interactive Webinar themed room can use the crowd emoji bursts. This is great for real-time visualization of the energy in the room, whether there are handfuls or hundreds of people!
To use this feature, simply click on any of the emojis below the stage while in an Interactive Webinar Session and watch them bounce up and drop back down below the stage.
Pro tip: Click on an emoji rapidly to have many of them appear on screen at once
You will not have access to the crowd emoji burst feature when on stage.
Things to note
- Participants can be removed from the stage by the room owner or hosts.
- When joining an Interactive Webinar-themed room, participants will not see the video preview window in the Lobby. This is because, by default, they will not be on stage. If invited on stage, they will be prompted to allow Session access to their microphone and camera, see how their video feed will look, then join the stage.
- The option to record the room is only available to the room owner and hosts.
- Participants cannot send requests to be added to the stage. They could let the person on stage know that they would like to be added within the chat though.
- It is not possible to bring multiple people onto the stage at once.