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How do I use Live Stream in Google Meet?

Live Stream is an option within Google Meet, and is very useful when presenting a view-only experience to a large audience – only you will be able to present, and your audience will only be able to view what you present (Chat and other Meet features will be disabled for them). 

NOTE: This is a good option if you’re concerned about disruption during your presentation (a.k.a. ‘Meetbombing’), but this option also eliminates the possibility for audience interaction such as Q&A, discussions, or polling. 

  • Part 1: Create a Live Stream event

    1. Open Google Calendar.
    2. Click  Create and then More options.
    3. Add the event details, such as date, time and description.
    4. Add the guests and rooms that can fully participate in the video meeting. 
      • You can add up to 250 participants. All guests added to this event can be seen, heard and present their screen.
      • People from other organizations can be added, but only people in your organization can record and control streaming.
      • For example, use this event to invite the speakers for your organization’s all-hands meeting. 
    5. Select Add conferencing > Google Meet to add the video meeting.
    6. Next to Join Google Meet, click the Down arrow > Add Live Stream.
    7. To invite view-only guests, select an option:
      • Click Copyand share the Live Stream URL in an email or chat message. 
      • Continue to Part 2: Create an additional event for view-only guests.

         NOTE: Only guests within your organization can view the Live Stream. You can add up to 100,000 view-only guests.
    8. Click Save.
    9. During the meeting, click More> Start streaming. Streaming does not automatically start, so that you have time to prepare before presenting.

    Part 2: Create an additional event for view-only guests

    To invite specific people to the view-only Live Stream, create a view-only event. The event is added to their Calendar and includes the link for view-only guests. You can add up to 100,000 view-only guests.

    People invited to this event are not seen or heard in the meeting, and cannot present, record or control streaming.

    1. Open Google Calendar and click the Live Stream event.
    2. Single-click the Live Stream event you previously created and click Edit .
    3. At the top, click More actions > Create view-only event.
    4. Add guests or rooms for view-only access, and other details such as a description.
    5. Click Save.
    6. Click Send.

    1. Open Google Calendar.
    2. Single-click the Live Stream event and click Edit .
    3. Next to Join Google Meet, click the Down arrow > Remove Live Stream.
    4. Click Save.

    NOTE: The meeting link changes when you add or remove Live Streaming. Be sure to share the updated link with your guests.

  • Any participant in the same organization as the meeting organizer can start or stop the Live Stream, if enabled by a G Suite administrator.

    You can start or stop the Live Stream if you are in the same organization as the meeting organizer and joined as a full participant. Guests who join to view-only cannot control the Live Stream.

    1. Open Google Calendar and join the video meeting.
    2. Select More > Start streaming.
    3. Confirm that you want to start streaming.
       When streaming is on, at the top left, you’ll see Live. View-only guests can now watch the meeting using the stream URL.
    4. Select More > Stop streaming to stop streaming.
    5. Confirm that you want to stop streaming.
  • Full participants from the same organization as the meeting organizer can record the Live Stream so people can watch the event after the meeting ends. Live Stream events are not automatically recorded, so you must manually start and stop recording. See  Record a video meeting.

    Guests who join to view-only cannot control recording.

  • People using the Live Stream link cannot interact with the meeting participants or others watching the Live Stream.

    To watch a Live Stream event, guests can:

    • Click the Live Stream link in the Calendar event or an email.
    • Watch from a meeting room that is added to the event and set up with Chromebox or Chromebase for meetings.

    When you watch a Live Stream event, you can:

    • Stop and start the live playback.
    • Adjust the playback speed and video quality.
    • Play the video on a TV.
    • Switch to full-screen mode.

    NOTE: To watch the event later, ask the meeting organizer if a recording is available. The Live Stream can only be viewed while being broadcast live. 

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