Presenter roles, waiting room, and on-screen control
Presenter roles decide what someone can control in the studio. The waiting room keeps presenters connected but off screen until they are needed, and the live presenter order controls which webcam slot each presenter fills in your active layouts.
Role overview
Host: can manage the broadcast lifecycle, presenters, layout, scenes, attendee requests, and streaming controls.
Co-host: can help produce the session and manage the same live production workflows as a host.
Moderator: can support audience-facing moderation workflows without taking over the full production role.
Presenter: can join the studio, prepare camera and microphone, and appear on screen when a host brings them live.
How the waiting room works
New presenters who are not the host start in the waiting room.
Waiting room presenters can prepare with the production team without being shown to attendees.
Hosts can move a presenter live when it is time for their segment.
Hosts can return a presenter to the waiting room after their segment ends.
Only live presenters are available for the active stage layout.
Control presenter order and layout slots
Live presenter order fills the webcam slots in each layout. The first online live presenter fills slot 1, the next online live presenter fills slot 2, and so on.
Hosts can drag live presenter cards in the Presenters panel to change that order. This is useful when a panel, interview, or co-hosted segment needs a predictable left-to-right or primary-speaker position.
If a presenter has an assigned position but is offline, HeyStream skips that presenter until they join. The remaining online presenters fill the visible slots, and the offline presenter returns to their ordered position when they come online.
Control presenters during a broadcast
Use the Presenters panel to see who is live, waiting, invited, or offline.
Use each presenter card menu to update details, change role, move them live or waiting, start a private thread, generate a studio join URL for offline invited presenters, or remove someone.
Use the microphone controls when a presenter needs to be muted from the host side.
Use layouts to decide how live presenters appear in the stream.
Troubleshooting
If a presenter cannot be brought live, check the plan limit for on-screen presenters.
If someone joined as an attendee, send them the presenter invite link instead of the watch page link.
If a presenter is offline, generate their studio join URL from the Presenters panel or ask them to re-open the exact studio invite and allow camera and microphone access.
If presenter order looks wrong, check whether an assigned presenter is offline. Offline presenters are skipped until they join.