Ready to host your first webinar? A seasoned pro? Somewhere in the middle? Wistia’s webinar functionality allows you to create a webinar, host it, and share the recording. With webinar registration enabled and Wistia’s analytics, you can collect registrant and attendee data from your event.
Create a webinar
To create a webinar in your Wistia account, navigate to your Webinars page from the lefthand side panel and click "Create."
Note
Account Owners, Managers, and Standard Users have access to create webinars. See permissions for more information.
Following this, you can add a title, date, time, time zone, and the approximate duration of your webinar. Don't worry, these details can be edited later on the “Overview” page!
Tip
You can also create an event from anywhere in your account by clicking "Create" at the top of the page. In this dropdown menu, select “Host webinar.”
Overview page
Once you click “Create,” you’ll be redirected to the Overview page where you can edit the high-level information for your event and add it to your calendar.
The Overview page includes a number of details and settings for your webinar:
The date, time, time zone, and approximate duration
Description (you can also generate a description via AI)
An event image that will represent your event from start to finish. The event image will be the default image for the registration page, emails, and the screen before the event starts and after it concludes
Links to the Customize, Audience, registration and event recap Analytics, and Simulcast pages
The option to enable or disable registration and select a registration form
A setting to allow your audience to watch your webinar on-demand recording
The Media folder for the webinar recording
Information about the date your webinar was created, who created it, and the scheduled date and time
For a full breakdown of the Overview page, head on over to this article.
Duplicate webinar
If you’ll be hosting a similar webinar in the future, you can click the three dots next to Embed, then click “Duplicate event” to create a brand new webinar with the same title, description, branding, and date and time.
Embed your live stream
Another way to share your webinar is by embedding it on your website. To start, head to the Event Overview page, then click "Embed." In the window that appears, you can choose your embed sizing and explore other advanced options. Once you've made your selections, click "Copy code" and paste it onto your website.
Your embed will show the event thumbnail before the event goes live, the live stream while the event is live, and then the media thumbnail once the event is over.
Note
Only the player is embeddable at this time. The embed doesn’t include any of the interactive elements we provide on our Wistia-hosted page (e.g. chat, Q&A) or a registration page.
Share event links
To send out links to your co-hosts, panelists, or to the audience, click “Share” and then select “Share event links.”
In the event links modal, click “Copy link” for your desired link. You can also add tracking to your Audience link to see where your traffic is coming from.
When you add tracking to an audience link, you can add a Campaign, Source, and/or Medium. Once added, you’ll be able to see this information broken down in the registration analytics for your webinar.
Check out this page to learn more about traffic analytics.
Hosts
There is no limit to the number of hosts that can join a webinar.
Share the Host link, and before joining, any hosts will be asked to enter their display name, and check to be sure they’ve selected the correct Video, Microphone (input), and Speakers (output). They can turn off their webcam, mute themselves, and test everything out before joining. Once ready, they can click “Join as host.”
Check out this page to learn more about the different roles you can have during a webinar.
Panelists
To share your event with panelists, click "Share," then "Share event links." There is no limit to the number of panelists that can join a webinar.
Note
Keep in mind that a maximum of nine hosts and panelists total can be brought on stage at once, so we recommend limiting your panelists to around 20. There will be a 10th slot saved for screen shares, chat messages, questions, or polls to be brought on stage.
Share the Panelist link, and before joining, any panelists will be asked to enter their display name, and check to be sure they’ve selected the correct Video, Microphone (input), and Speakers (output). They can turn off their webcam, mute themselves, and test everything out before joining. Once ready, they can click “Join as Panelist.”
Audience
To share your event with your audience, click "Share," then "Share event links." The event link will take an attendee directly to the event page, or prompt them to register first.
Note
The Advanced Plan allows each webinar to have up to 500 attendees and last up to 2 hours. The Premium plan allows each webinar to have up to 2,500 attendees and last up to 4 hours. On both Advanced and Premium plans, each additional minute is $1 and each additional attendee is $1. Learn more about our plans on our Pricing page.
Join event room
To enter the Event Room as a host or panelist, or to preview the Event Room as an audience member, click on the options listed under “Join event room”
Check out this page to learn about the different roles you can have during a webinar.
Delete webinar
If you’d like to delete your webinar, click the three dots next to Embed, then click “Delete Event” and confirm your decision.
Note
Deleting a webinar cannot be undone.
Additional resources
Want to learn more about webinars? Curious about tips and tricks? Check out Wistia’s Webinar Guidebook and our Marketing Webinar Checklist to learn everything there is to know before you go live!