Recording online and in-room speakers in a hybrid event

For a hybrid event, decide what the recording must contain before the day, then map where each voice and picture comes from. If you do not, a remote speaker can be heard live yet be missing from the recording you keep.

What does a hybrid conference recording need to combine?

Think of the event as sources going in and outputs coming out. A source is anything that carries a picture or sound. An output is something you receive or watch.

Write both lists down. Then check that every source reaches every output you need. If you want a full recording that includes remote speakers beside their slides, that must be planned, not hoped for.

A simple source-and-output checklist

1. Which sessions have remote speakers, and how many in each?
2. Where do the slides come from, and who advances them?
3. What does the room see and hear when a remote speaker talks?
4. What does the recording show: the speaker, the slides, the room, or a mix?
5. Which outputs do you need, and in what format and language?

How do you record online speakers alongside a live audience?

Audio is where hybrid recordings most often fail. A remote speaker’s voice usually arrives from the meeting platform and is played through the room’s speakers. The recording only has it if it is routed there on purpose.

Map the audio path for each remote speaker:

• In: how their voice reaches the production, such as the meeting platform on a laptop.
• To the room: how the audience hears them, through the venue’s speakers or a playback system.
• To the recording: how the same voice is captured, as a direct feed and not by a microphone picking up the room speaker.
• Back to the speaker: how they hear the room, such as questions from the floor, so they can respond.

Capturing a remote voice by recording the room speaker usually sounds thin and echoey. A direct feed into the recording is cleaner. This links to the wider check in livestream sound and in-room sound are separate checks.

Venue-specific details, such as what the sound desk allows, must be confirmed with the venue. See what to ask about a venue livestream connection.

Who runs what?

Hybrid events often have three teams: the venue’s audio-visual (AV) team, the meeting platform host and the video crew. Gaps appear between them. Agree early:

• Who hosts the meeting and admits speakers.
• Who controls the room screens.
• Who records, and what exactly is recorded.
• Who contacts a speaker who drops out.

Who is responsible for event internet connectivity covers the connection side.

How do you prepare remote speakers?

Remote speakers need the same care as those on stage. Run a rehearsal with each of them, checking microphone, camera, screen share and how they are introduced. Our guide to rehearsing a livestream with remote speakers sets out the steps.

What if you also want a live stream?

A hybrid event often has a live stream for people who cannot join the meeting platform. That is a separate output with its own access rules, covered in public or private livestream access. A delay between the room and the stream may also affect live questions, as described in communicating a stream delay to the event team.

What we confirm for your event

• The sources and outputs agreed in writing.
• How each remote speaker’s audio is recorded, as a direct feed.
• Whether remote speakers appear beside their slides in the recording.
• Who runs the meeting platform, and who records.
• What the recording shows if a speaker drops out.

The livestream planning checklist can be used as the starting point for these questions. For the wider scope, see the hybrid event video service.