StreamLive Pro

Talk to a guest off air, then bring them on

A guest who joins your live waits off air: you can talk privately, set their name and layout, then put them on screen with one click. How it works, step by step.

Updated November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

A guest who opens your link joins the room straight away, but not the broadcast. They land in your inputs strip off air: you and the guest hear each other, viewers do not see or hear them. That is your waiting area. Use it to check their picture and sound, set the name that will appear under them and choose a layout, then put them on air with one click on a layer number.

Before you start

• A guest link. In the inputs strip click Add guest and send the link: How to do a live interview with a remote guest. One link serves everyone and is valid for 4 hours: Guests and invitations — bringing people into the room.
• Headphones on both sides. You will talk off air while the live may be running; speakers next to a microphone make an echo.
• Room size by plan. How many guests a live room holds depends on the plan: /pricing?lang=en.

Steps

1. Wait for the join message. When the guest joins, the studio says that you and the guest can hear each other now, and that viewers will hear them only once you put them on the broadcast screen.
2. Find the guest's tile. The guest appears in the inputs strip with a tile marked Waiting · 1-6. Viewers see nothing of it.
3. Talk. Check that the picture is sharp and the sound is clean, and tell the guest when they will go on. Ask them to sit in the centre of their frame.
4. Open the guest's settings. Click the gear on the tile. The Guest tab (Guest broadcast) says In PREVIEW — pick a layer to go on-air.
5. Set the name. Type the Display name (Lower-Third) and the Subtitle (role / topic), for example a name and "Field reporter".
6. Choose the On-air layout. Full, Split → , ← Split, PIP BR, PIP TR, Camera or Hide: Side by side and picture in picture layouts in a live.
7. Put the guest on air. Under Push live to layer click a number from 1 to 6. The guest's picture, sound and layout go live together. Click the same number again to take them off air.

Off air and on air

A phone you add as a camera skips this step: it is a camera, not a person, and joins your inputs directly: Use your phone as an extra camera.

Listeners and call-ins

A guest who joined as Listen only sends no sound. Unmuting a listener turns them into a speaker, as in a radio call-in: their browser asks for the microphone and they join the conversation without leaving. Bringing a listener on air this way is included on Pro and Studio and in the trial; muting anyone always works, on every plan: /pricing?lang=en.

Approving each arrival

There is no setting in the studio today that holds each guest outside the room until you admit them; everyone with the link joins the room, off air. To control who comes in:

• Send the link only to the people you invite, in a private message.
• If a link reached the wrong place, press + New Link in the invite window. The old link stops working once it expires, 4 hours after it was created.
• Remove anyone who should not be there: Manage guests during a live: mute, place, remove.

What can go wrong

• The guest is in the strip but viewers do not see them. That is the waiting state. Pick a layer under Push live to layer.
• You cannot hear the guest off air. They joined with microphone off or as a listener, or picked the wrong microphone: I cannot hear my guest in the live stream.
• The room is full. The next guest is told the room is full. Remove someone or check the plan.
• An echo while you talk. Someone is on speakers: Echo during a live stream with guests.

Frequently asked questions

Do viewers see a guest as soon as they join?

No. A guest joins off air. You and the guest can talk, and viewers see and hear them only after you put them on a layer.

Can I talk to a guest privately before they go on air?

Yes. While the guest waits off air you hear each other and viewers hear nothing.

Is there a waiting room where I approve each guest?

Not as a setting today. Guests with the link join the room off air, and you decide when they go on air and who to remove.

How do I take a guest off air without removing them?

Click the same layer number again in the guest's settings. They go back to waiting and stay in the room.

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