A step by step guide to teach you how to assign hosts and speaker to live breakout sessions and showing the differences in permissions.
 | Merci A Last updated June 24, 2025 |
Live breakout sessions using Canapii's video conferencing tool works very similarly with zoom or teams meeting rooms. Organizers have the ability to assign permissions based on the session format and requirements. We can assign three different roles for live breakout sessions:
- Speakers are attendees who might appear within the speakers page or have a public profile elsewhere on the attendees side of the platform.
- Hosts usually indicate the people within the organizing team who could have superior technical capabilities and enables them to jump into session if/when required. It is likely for some of your sessions that a presenter could be set to either a speaker and a host.
- Viewers are usually the general event attendees. This is the default role for all the attendees added on the session.
Note: If the live breakout session is in webinar mode, viewer can only view and listen during the meeting - they cannot turn on their camera or microphone. In meeting mode, viewers will be able to share their video, audio and raise their hand.
How to assign roles (Host, speaker or viewer):
1. Access the console and select Sessions. From the list of sessions, go into the live breakout which you wish to assign a host/speaker to.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and here you'll find different tabs, click on the Attendees tab.
Select Add attendee button and search for the attendees name and submit. Upon pulling through the attendee, next to their name you'll find the option to set as host or speaker -- select accordingly.
For better comparison, below are the different permissions for hosts, speakers and viewers available in a live breakout session.
