Speaker Guide

Before you begin, please also read over the Before You Start for more guidance on making sure you are compatible with the Welcome platform

*For the best experience use Chrome*

Table of Contents

• Best Practices
• Registration
• Entering the Event
• The Green Room Chat
• The "People" Tab
• Entering the Green Room
• Screen sharing
• Event Navigation

Best Practices

Setting up your hardware

• Use the compatibility checker before logging in to identify any possible issues: https://app.experiencewelcome.com/compatibility-check
• We strongly recommend using Chrome for all speakers. Please ensure you have your browser permissions for video and microphone allowed; if you plan on screen sharing on a Mac please make sure your system preferences are set correctly (detailed below). You can also use Firefox, Safari, or Edge if you want, but we recommend Chrome.
  • If on a Mac, you will need to check privacy/security settings to allow screen recording for Chrome.
    • Go to System Preferences >Security & Privacy > Scroll down to Screen Recording > Check box for Google Chrome.
  • Our full permissions troubleshooting article is available for further details.
• Do not share your unique link with anyone else. If some one does use your unique link it will kick you out of the event due to only 1 unique user can be online with your profile.
• If you are screen sharing a 4k display may need to scale your resolution down to 1080p for the event.
• Make sure your internet connection is good and stable; we recommend at least 50Mbps download and 25Mbps upload.
• Make sure your laptop is plugged in and in a charging state.
• Close all of your non-essential programs and limit the number of browser tabs you have open; we recommend just having the Welcome tab open if possible.
• Turn off your auto-updating apps, notifications on your device.

Setting up your environment

• Let your colleagues (or your kids and your dog) know that you are presenting live to 5000+ people and best not disturb you. Maybe lock the door! ;-)
• If you are going to be screen sharing, please set up your slides on a second monitor if possible as this will allow you to see both Welcome and your presentation.
  • Check out this article if you need more help with screen sharing.
• Make sure to hide anything personal or sensitive on any screen, tab, desktop, bookmarks bar, and turn off notifications. Lets not forget to silence your mobile devices.
• Remember that you will not have the option of using a virtual background unless you use a 3rd party app (Snapcam or mmhmm for instance). You may want to put in some time and energy to make your background look amazing!

Using Welcome

Here is a video walkthrough of joining an event as a speaker. This should give you a general idea of the experience.

Registration

We recommend using one of the integrated email registration options (Google, LinkedIn, Outlook) if possible.

Registering as a speaker is the same as registering as an attendee. The event producer will give you "Speaker" permissions. You will be given a title within your profile based on the event settings. Attendees do not have a badge here, so as long as you are seeing a title you're good to go as a "Speaker" (note that event staff/producers will also have a title).

Entering an Event

Unlike attendees, speakers can enter whenever they want. This is so that you can enter the event early and get ready before the show. 

You will also see this prompt when you enter an event (attendees don't see any prompt)

The Chat Tab

• Public Chat - Where you can interact with other attendees and engage with the speakers
  • Don't forget to use emojis and /giphy [text] to create some fun

• Speaker Chat - AKA backstage chat, this is only available to speakers and producers of the event. This will allow you to communicate with the staff while you are in and out of the Green Room. 

• DMs (Direct Messages) - Allow you to send other attendees DMs for private conversations.
  • You can also request 1:1 video calls with other attendees. For greater detail check out our 1:1 Call Guide

• Help Chat - Think of this as reaching out to the event staff/producers directly for help with technical issues during the event. You can also review the section of our help center.
  • You can also click on your profile image at the top right-hand corner and click "Contact Support" to email our team directly. 

The People Tab

You will be sorted in with the "Speakers." This will allow you to locate the event producers. From this tab, you will also be able to start a Direct Message or 1:1 video call to a person by hovering over the name and clicking the associated button on the right side. If needed, you can also search for a user with the magnifying glass (helpful in large events).

Entering the Green Room

The Green Room is essentially a backstage for the event. To enter the Green Room you will need to be invited by an event producer. If you need to contact the producers and are not in the green room, the best way to do that is to use the Speaker chat in the communication panel on the right.

When the Producer is ready, you will receive an invite like the one below.

After you click "Accept Invite", you will have a prompt to perform a Camera and Microphone check. If you do not see an option to choose your camera and mic. It is likely due to your browser permission setting. In most cases, your browser will give you a pop-up asking you to Allow or Block these settings. If not you will need to go and change them manually. You can follow our Troubleshooting Permission Issues article for further details.

Once you have clicked "Let's Go", you will now be in the green room and will be able to speak to the producer and other speakers. The producer will do some sound and video checks with you to ensure the quality is good and prepare you to go on stage.

Audio Sliders

You will have two audio sliders that you can adjust for your needs.

• Stage Audio Slider at the bottom left. This will allow you to adjust the volume for the stage for your instance only (this does not impact other users).
• Green Room Audio Slider at the top to the right of "Green Room". This will allow you to adjust the volume of the Green Room independently from the Stage.

When you are on stage the Green Room audio will go to ZERO. This way the chatter going on in the Green Room does not distract you or leak onto the stage. You are still able to turn it up if you like, but having both audio channels turned up can be distracting while speaking and depending on your set up it may cause Green Room audio to leak onto the stage.

Screen Sharing

If you are going to be screen sharing AKA "Presenting" please read over these tips

• Screen share works the best with Chrome and only a computer (desktop/laptop). You can use Firefox as well, but the experience is not as smooth.
• If you are screen sharing a 4k display you may need to scale down your resolution 1080p for the event. Or you may need to adjust the window you are sharing accordingly.
• For the best experience screen sharing on Welcome, use a second monitor so you can see both your slides on one screen and the Welcome Platform on the other. If you are using PowerPoint, be sure you use slide show mode so that Welcome screen shares the entire presentation from your second monitor. If you are using Keynote with a second monitor, you can avoid the presenter view by playing your slideshow using the "Play Slideshow in Window" setting in the Play tab.
  
  • Screensharing Presentations (1 screen)
  • Screensharing Presentations (2 screens)

• When generating slides for the event be mindful that screenshares will appear side by side with your video when on stage. You will want to design your slides around that so you do not cover content. See the Zip file at the end of this article for screenshare templates.

  Template Image Example

  

• If you are seeing a black/blank screen on the Welcome Platform it is most likely due to a VPN and/or network firewall, please turn that off if possible. If you are unable to turn that off please reference our Networking — troubleshooting & tuning for optimal performance article for your IT/Security team. You can also reach out to our support team at [e-mail] if you need further assistance.
• If on a Mac, you will need to check system privacy/security settings to allow screen recording for Chrome. In some cases, you will need to do this for your Camera and Microphone as well.
  • Go to System Preferences >Security & Privacy > Scroll down to Screen Recording > Check box for Google Chrome. The Camera and Microphone are listed as such in this section as well. Troubleshooting Permission Issues guide for deeper details.
    

Event Navigation

If you are speaking at a multi-track event you may need to move from track to track we have two options for you. These navigation methods are not available while you are on camera in the Green Room.

Select the correct stage from the event login page. Scroll down on this page to find the stage in question.

Within the event a Track Hamburger at the top left corner of the event will pop out the event navigation panel and you can click on the track you would like to go to.

Still need help?

If none of the solutions work above and you're still experiencing issues, feel free to contact [e-mail] or click Help at the bottom right corner of the screen.