--- title: How to start your webinar description: Presenters and admins can manually start the webinar or rely on an automatic start to let attendees in --- [Skip to content](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/how-do-presenters-begin-their-webinar-or-virtual-event-session-1#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [![Size=36px, Style=On-light, Brand=BigMarker-1](https://kb.bigmarker.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Size=36px%2c%20Style=On-light%2c%20Brand=BigMarker-1.png?width=171&height=36&name=Size=36px%2c%20Style=On-light%2c%20Brand=BigMarker-1.png)](https://www.bigmarker.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations Welcome to the BigMarker Knowledge Base! - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Knowledge Base](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge?hsLang=en) 2. [Getting Started](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en) 3. [Intro to presenting](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#intro-to-presenting) # How to start your webinar ## Presenters and admins can manually start the webinar or rely on an automatic start to let attendees in All webinars on BigMarker need to **start** in order to open up for attendees, but depending on your settings, you can either manually start the session or automatically let attendees in. ### Automatically starting the webinar In the [waiting room settings](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/waiting-room-settings?hsLang=en), after enabling you'll see an option for **automatically open session at the scheduled start time**. With this enabled, registrants will be able to see the attendee experience at the webinar start time. If they are in the waiting room, attendees will automatically redirect from the waiting room to the live attendee experience at the scheduled start time. ![](https://kb.bigmarker.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-May-08-2026-05-14-28-5804-PM.png?width=525&height=182&name=image-png-May-08-2026-05-14-28-5804-PM.png) ### Manually starting the webinar If you want to have more control over your webinar start time, you have a few options. First, before the webinar start time, you'll see an option to go live early in the [top bar of the Studio](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/studio-produce-live-video-content-1?hsLang=en#top_content). This appears even if you have set the waiting room to be on and the webinar to open at the start time. ![](https://kb.bigmarker.com/hs-fs/hubfs/image-png-May-14-2025-02-27-25-0650-PM.png?width=600&height=104&name=image-png-May-14-2025-02-27-25-0650-PM.png) If you want to turn off the automatic opening, you can either set the setting mentioned above (**Webinar automatically opens at the scheduled start time**) to be disabled. This allows you to have a waiting room, but have full control over the start time. You can also disable the waiting room entirely. This has the same effect, but there will no longer be a waiting room. - [Getting Started](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#main-content) - [BigMarker Basics](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#bigmarker-basics) - [Intro to presenting](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#intro-to-presenting) - [Basics of the attendee experience](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#basics-of-the-attendee-experience) - [BigMarker Troubleshooting](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#bigmarker-troubleshooting) - [Hardware and Device Troubleshooting](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#hardware-and-device-troubleshooting) - [Network and internet troubleshooting](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#network-and-internet-troubleshooting) - [Home, Channel & Profile Settings](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/getting-started?hsLang=en#home-channel-profile-settings) - [Webinars and Series](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Creation & Setup](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#creation-setup) - [Advanced Settings](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#advanced-settings) - [Surveys, Stats & Certificates](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#surveys-stats-certificates) - [On-demand Webinars & Video](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#on-demand-webinars-video) - [Registration](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#registration) - [Emails & Invitations](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#emails-invitations) - [Attendee Experience](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#attendee-experience) - [Design](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#design) - [Promotion & Sharing](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/webinars-and-series?hsLang=en#promotion-sharing) - [Virtual & Hybrid Events](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Event Setup](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#event-setup) - [Virtual Venue](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#virtual-venue) - [Registration](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#registration) - [Analytics/Integrations](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#analytics-integrations) - [Sessions and user journeys](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#sessions-and-user-journeys) - [Design](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#design) - [Sponsors & Networking](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#sponsors-networking) - [Hybrid Settings & Streaming](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/virtual-hybrid-events?hsLang=en#hybrid-settings-streaming) - [Presenter Capabilities](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/presenter-capabilities?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Using the Studio](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/presenter-capabilities?hsLang=en#using-the-studio) - [Presenter Settings & Permissions](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/presenter-capabilities?hsLang=en#presenter-settings-permissions) - [Content & Engagement](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/presenter-capabilities?hsLang=en#content-engagement) - [Integrations](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/integrations?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Webinar, Series and Event integrations](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/integrations?hsLang=en#webinar-series-and-event-integrations) - [Channel Integrations](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/integrations?hsLang=en#channel-integrations) - [In-person events & Mobile Event Apps](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/in-person-events-mobile-event-apps?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Event Companion App](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/in-person-events-mobile-event-apps?hsLang=en#event-companion-app) - [Scanner App, QR Codes & Badge Printing](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/in-person-events-mobile-event-apps?hsLang=en#scanner-app-qr-codes-badge-printing) - [BigMarker AI](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/bigmarker-ai?hsLang=en) - [Privacy, Security & Policies](https://kb.bigmarker.com/knowledge/privacy-security-policies?hsLang=en) [![Size=36px, Style=On-light, Brand=BigMarker-1](https://kb.bigmarker.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Size=36px%2c%20Style=On-light%2c%20Brand=BigMarker-1.png?width=171&height=36&name=Size=36px%2c%20Style=On-light%2c%20Brand=BigMarker-1.png "Size=36px, Style=On-light, Brand=BigMarker-1")](http://bigmarker.com) © 2010 - 2026 BigMarker. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2026, BigMarker