You've carefully crafted your Event App. The plan is in place. You know where everything is. You're ready to go! But what about your speakers, moderators, emcees, and caption providers? They may or may not have used Webex Events Streaming before, so getting them familiar with all the details can be crucial to their comfort and success.

This guide shows you how to set up and run a test stream with your speakers, moderators, and captioners — one aspect of testing your Event App. Running a test stream is great to determine if you want to go with a particular caption provider. Likewise, if you plan to pre-record Simulive content, use this process to create a secret stream for recording. 🤫

Both Webex Events Streaming and the Webex Events Production Studio let you go live multiple times in a single Studio, so feel free to test with the same Studio you'll use on event day. This can simplify coordinating the test with speakers since you don't have to send an additional speaker link for the test. If you'd like to test in the main studio, skip to the next section.

If you'd rather not use the actual live stream because attendees are already in your Event App, follow the instructions below to set up a test live stream.

In your Event navigation bar under ‘Event App’ (or 'Community' in a Community), click Features, then click Add Features.

In the modal that appears, search for the Live Stream feature, click Add, then close the modal.

Now click the Settings (⚙️) icon on the feature and name it something with "Test" at the end. If attendees are already using your Event App, consider creating a hidden Group that's only for speakers and staff so attendees can't find or join the stream. Simply select your hidden group in the 'Visible To' field, and attendees will be none the wiser. 🙂

Click Edit on the test feature and select Production Studio or Production Studio by Restream as the stream provider. If you'll use Chat for your stream, make sure to enable it. Click Save Changes when you're done.

Click Edit on the test feature again, and the Invite Speakers link is now available. Click Copy next to the link field and distribute the link and our Speaker Instructions to anyone joining your test session.

Consider sharing this fun streaming best practices video we made to show some common best practices.

Before you start your test, it's a good idea to load up any banners, logos, overlays, or videos that you'll be in use for the actual session. Enter the studio to upload the assets at any time.

If speakers want to use a virtual background using Restream's green screen studio setting, encourage the speakers to prepare their background in advance and ensure they have proper lighting in their presentation space.

Once you have everything ready, summon your speakers and click Launch Studio from the Live Stream feature or Session edit modal. If there are additional people who'll be controlling transitions, banners, overlays, etc., make sure to invite them to your Webex Events team, then have them click Launch Studio in the test session instead of using the Speaker link.

We recommend opening your Event App's web version in a different browser tab or device to find out how the attendee will experience the live stream. If you have Chat enabled, this will also let you show your speakers how chats are highlighted in the stream. Webex Events Production Studio also lets you highlight Q&A in the stream. Be sure to join the the stream in the Mobile App, too.

Once everyone is in the stream, give them plenty of time to play around with settings and simply get familiar and comfortable with the space. Show them how media, brands, banners, and chats work before you click 'Go Live'.

If you make a mistake or want to try something different, don't worry! That's why you're testing. If you need to, repeat this process to make a new test and try it again.

If you're using this process to pre-record a session, anything that happened in the stream after you clicked 'Go Live' will be recorded and available for download. To access the video download, click the Recordings button next to the 'Go Live' button.

Now you know how to run a test stream. Don't forget to test your Event App, too!