Invite guest speakers
- 01
What guest speakers are for
A guest speaker is an external person without an OpenBooth account who joins a broadcast live. They open a speak link, pick a display name, allow their microphone, and can speak once the host puts them on air. They show up in the participants list with the Guest label.
- 02
The name is temporary, the link stays
The display name is only a temporary claim on the link. When the broadcast ends, the claim is released automatically: the guest is signed out and the link is free again. For the next stream, the same or a different person can join with the same link, until it expires or you revoke it.
Note
The difference to a channel speaker: a guest has no account of their own, exists only for the duration of the broadcast and is limited to this one channel. A channel speaker is an org member with a permanent role and needs no link. If someone should speak regularly, add them to your org as a member and assign them as a Speaker on the channel. - 03
Create a speak link
In the channel under Contributors, open the Speak Links section and click New link. OpenBooth generates a link under
/speak/[token]with a default validity of 7 days.- One link seats exactly one guest at a time. For multiple guests, create multiple links.
- Up to 20 active links per channel can exist at the same time.
- While a guest is connected, the link is occupied. After the broadcast ends it automatically becomes free again and can be claimed anew.
- 04
Share the link
Heads up
Send the link only to the intended person, for example by email or chat. Anyone who knows it can join as a guest. If you suspect a leak, revoke the link and create a new one. - 05
What the guest sees
The speak link is the guest's only address. On opening it they pick a display name; while no stream is running, the same page shows the waiting area, and once the broadcast starts it becomes the studio. Reloading or bookmarking is safe at any time.
- 06
Bring the speaker on air
After joining, the guest shows up in the participants list and can already pick their microphone and test it via the signal meter - but they stay silent. Use the microphone icon to grant them speaking permission; turning the microphone on is then up to the guest, since no browser allows activating someone else's microphone remotely. Use the same icon to withdraw the permission again without removing them from the studio.
- 07
Remove and revoke
Remove a guest via the trash icon in the participants list, even in the middle of a live broadcast. The guest is signed out immediately and their link is revoked in the same step. Removing and revoking are deliberately the same action: otherwise the person could rejoin right away with their link.
- Revoke individual speak links via the trash icon in the Speak Links section. If the link is currently occupied, the guest is removed along with it.
- Revoke all free links at once with Revoke all. Occupied links are not affected; remove the guests behind them via the participants list.
- If a removed guest should join again later, simply create a new link.