📌 Purpose

This article explains how to access the Microsoft Teams Webinar feature and create a basic webinar event. Teams webinars allow organizers to create a registration-based online event for internal or public audiences, manage presenters, customize attendee settings, and send registration communications.

👥 Audience

• Students
• Faculty
• Staff

🖥️ Applies To

• Windows
• macOS
• Microsoft Teams
• Web Based

🛠️ Instructions

1. Open Microsoft Teams Calendar

Open Microsoft Teams and select Calendar from the left-hand navigation menu.

From the calendar screen, select the New button in the upper-right corner.

Microsoft Teams Calendar with the New button available in the upper-right corner.

2. Choose Webinar

After selecting New, a drop-down menu will appear. Choose Webinar.

Depending on setup, you may also see other options such as:

• Event
• Channel meeting
• Town hall
• Class
• Lecture

Select Webinar to begin creating a webinar event.

The New menu in Teams showing the Webinar option.

3. Enter the Basic Webinar Information

On the webinar setup screen, complete the basic information.

At minimum, enter:

• Title (required field)
• Start date
• Start time
• End date
• End time
• Description

The description should explain what the webinar is about and what attendees can expect.

You can also add:

• Co-organizers
• Presenters from your organization
• External presenters, if needed

Teams Webinar setup screen where organizers enter the title, date, time, description, co-organizers, and presenters.

4. Select Event Access

Under Event access, choose who can view the event page and register.

The common choices are:

• Your organization
  Only people within Salve Regina University can view the event page and register.
• Public
  Anyone on the internet can view the event page and register.

Use Your organization for internal university webinars. Use Public only when the webinar is intended for people outside Salve Regina University.

5. Review Attendee Email and Sharing Settings

The webinar setup page includes options for attendee communication and event sharing.

Common settings include:

• Enable attendee emails
  Allows Teams to send registration and event-related emails to attendees.
• Allow sharing to social media from event site
  Allows the webinar page to be shared more broadly.

For most internal webinars, leave Enable attendee emails turned on. Use caution with social media sharing unless the event is intended for a public audience.

6. Review Attendee Experience Settings

In the Attendee experience section, you can control how attendees participate in the webinar.

Common options include:

• Manage what attendees see
  Allows organizers to control what content and people appear on screen.
• Allow mic for attendees
  Allows attendees to unmute.
• Allow camera for attendees
  Allows attendees to turn on cameras.
• Q&A
  Enables a structured question-and-answer experience.
• Hide attendee names
  Helps protect attendee privacy during the webinar.

For a basic webinar, a common setup is:

• Attendee microphones: Off
• Attendee cameras: Off
• Q&A: On
• Attendee emails: On

This creates a more controlled webinar experience where presenters speak and attendees participate through Q&A.

Attendee experience settings for controlling microphones, cameras, Q&A, and attendee visibility.

7. Save and Publish the Webinar

After the required information is entered, select Save.

Once the webinar is ready, use the available options to preview or publish the event site. After publishing, you can share the registration link with the intended audience.

💡 Troubleshooting & Tips

• Issue: The Webinar option does not appear under the New menu.
  Tip: Confirm that you are using the Teams Calendar and that your account has access to webinar features.
• Issue: Attendees should register, but the event is not visible.
  Tip: Make sure the event has been saved and published.
• Issue: External attendees need to register.
  Tip: Set Event access to Public.
• Issue: You want a controlled presentation-style event.
  Tip: Leave attendee microphones and cameras turned off and enable Q&A.
• Issue: You need another person to help manage the webinar.
  Tip: Add them as a Co-organizer or Presenter before the event.