Managing Participants

Effective participant management ensures the right people have access to your Q&A session with appropriate permissions. This guide covers how to add participants, manage roles, and control access to your sessions.

Understanding Participant Roles

The Q&A module uses three distinct participant roles:

Participants

• Can submit questions through the participant interface
• Can vote on questions to help prioritize content
• Cannot moderate or manage other participants
• View published questions but not pending ones

Moderators

• All participant permissions plus additional controls
• Can moderate questions by approving or hiding them
• Can add new participants to the session
• Cannot manage other moderators or hosts
• Cannot change session settings

Hosts

• Full session control including all moderator permissions
• Can manage all participants including other hosts and moderators
• Can modify session settings at any time
• Can control presentation mode and session flow
• Can add hosts and moderators

Adding Participants

To add participants to your session:

1. Navigate to your session management page
2. Click the Participants tab
3. Click New participant
4. Select users from the dropdown menu
5. Users are automatically added as participants

Managing Session Access

Host Management

Hosts have the highest level of control. To add a new host:

1. Go to the Session Access tab
2. In the Hosts section, click New host
3. Select the user from the dropdown
4. The user immediately receives host privileges

Important: Hosts can manage other hosts, so only add trusted users to this role.

Moderator Management

Moderators help manage question flow without full session control:

1. Navigate to the Session Access tab
2. In the Moderators section, click New moderator
3. Choose the user from the available options
4. The user can immediately begin moderating questions

Participant Communication

Sharing Session Links

All participants need the session link to access the Q&A interface:

1. Copy the Shareable link from your session settings
2. Distribute via email, chat, or meeting invitations
3. Include instructions for first-time users
4. Consider sharing the link early so participants can prepare questions

Setting Expectations

Communicate clearly with participants about:

• Session timeline and when questions will be accepted
• Question guidelines and appropriate topics
• Moderation process and approval delays
• Anonymous option availability if enabled

Access Control Best Practices

Role Assignment Strategy

Hosts:

• Session organizers and primary facilitators
• Senior team members who need full control
• Backup facilitators in case of technical issues

Moderators:

• Subject matter experts who can screen questions
• Team members who can help during live sessions
• Support staff for large events

Participants:

• All attendees who should be able to ask questions
• Team members, customers, or event audiences

Security Considerations

For Organization Sessions:

• Only organization members can access the session
• No additional security measures needed
• Automatic user verification through organization membership

For Private Sessions:

• Manually add each participant
• Regularly review participant list
• Remove participants who should no longer have access

For Public Sessions:

• Anyone with the link can participate
• Consider enabling question moderation
• Monitor for inappropriate content
• Have clear community guidelines

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Participants Can't Access Session

• Verify the link was shared correctly
• Check session mode matches intended audience
• Confirm user permissions if using organization/private mode
• Ensure session hasn't expired or been deactivated

Too Many Questions to Moderate

• Add more moderators to help with question review
• Enable auto-approval if appropriate for your audience
• Communicate delays to participants if manual moderation is needed

Next Steps

With participants properly managed:

1. Begin moderating incoming questions
2. Prepare for your live presentation
3. Monitor session engagement and activity

Continue with: Moderating Questions