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Event preparation checklist

What organizers, speakers and venue staff should check before an event.

Good live captions start with good preparation. This checklist is organized by role. Start reading it a week before the event, and run the rehearsal in the last section just before you open.

Organizers: one week before

  1. Check your hours: the organization needs more than 10 minutes left when recording starts. The event page shows about how much recording time this event has left. Each extra translation language uses 10% more hours, so estimate by the number of languages.
  2. Fill in the event topic and background: write the field, the speakers and the terms that come up often. Translation gets more accurate.
  3. Choose only the languages the speaker really uses: the right choice improves recognition; too many languages slow it down.
  4. Choose translation languages and the listener cap: the default cap is 500. When the cap is reached, new listeners are told the event is full.
  5. Set a listener password if you need one: listeners enter it the first time they open the page. The password shows only once when you set it, so write it down.
  6. Prepare glossaries: add speaker names, organizations, products and terms to a glossary, then add the glossary in the event's "Glossaries" tab. See the glossary guide.
  7. Check the advanced settings: for a panel with several speakers, turn on "Will several speakers take turns". To let listeners hear speech, turn on "Listeners can hear voice".
  • A speaker link is valid for 7 days after it is created. If the event is more than a week away, click "Regenerate speaker link" on the event page shortly before the event, then send the new link.
  • Click "Copy instructions for the speaker" to paste the link and the steps into an email or a chat message.
  • The speaker link only shows on the computer that created the event. Send it to the speaker or save it yourself.

Speakers: before the talk

  • Open the speaker link in Chrome or Edge on a computer. A phone also works, but its screen must stay on.
  • When the browser asks for the microphone, click "Allow". If the link opens inside an app such as LINE or Facebook, open it in Chrome or Safari instead.
  • In the settings panel, choose the audio source and check that the level meter moves. If no sound arrives for 6 seconds, the page asks you to check the microphone.
  • Close programs that can hold the microphone, such as video meetings.
  • In "Languages I speak", choose the language of your talk.
  • To caption a video or a remote speaker, use "Share a tab's audio" (desktop Chrome).

See audio tips for more.

Venue projector and live stream

  • In the event's "Projector captions" tab, set up as many caption sets as you need. Each set has its own URL, with its own languages, font size and position for a different screen.
  • Open the projector URL on the computer connected to the projector and choose a mode: full screen, picture-in-picture (on top of your slides), or capture slides and compose.
  • For a live stream, add a "Browser source" in OBS or vMix with the broadcast URL, size 1920×1080.
  • Click "Send test captions": every screen with that URL open shows sample captions for 30 seconds, so you can check position and size before you open.
  • "Fade out after" keeps the last caption from staying on screen during breaks.

See display and OBS for details.

Listener entry points

  • Print the listener QR code from the event page on table cards, posters or your opening slide.
  • "Let listeners join" on the speaker page also shows the QR code full screen, which works well at the start.
  • If there is a listener password, announce it in the venue. The same device skips the password for 7 days.
  • Tell listeners to use headphones for speech, and to add the page to their home screen so the screen is less likely to turn off.
  • If the venue Wi-Fi needs a sign-in page, listeners may not connect. They can switch to mobile data.

15 minutes before: rehearsal

  1. The speaker clicks "Start", says a few sentences, and checks that captions appear on the speaker page.
  2. Scan the QR code with one phone, pick a language, and check that captions appear on the listener page.
  3. Check the caption position on the projector or stream.
  4. After the rehearsal, the speaker clicks "Clear captions". Captions on every screen clear; the transcript stays.

Rehearsal recording also counts toward your hours, so plan for it.

After the event

  • Click "End event" on the event page. Captions and transcripts stay, and you can reopen the event at any time.
  • Download the transcript as CSV or JSON in the "Transcript" tab.
  • Open "Usage reports" to see the recording time and hours used for each session, and export them as CSV.