The four things every lobby needs
Guests in a waiting room have one worry: am I in the right place, and is anything happening? Answer it before they ask.
- Who. The host's name or the company, so guests know whose room they are in.
- What. The name of the session, exactly as it appeared in the invitation.
- When. A countdown or start time, so guests know how long they will wait.
- Reassurance. A line that says the page will start by itself, so nobody refreshes or leaves.
Example waiting room messages
Use these as starting points and adjust the tone to your brand.
- Jordan will be joining shortly. Stay on this page and the session will start by itself.
- Welcome to the Spring Product Launch. We begin when the countdown reaches zero. Grab a coffee.
- You are in the right place for Thursday's team all-hands. Your microphone will be muted when we start.
- The masterclass starts soon. While you wait, add the follow-up session to your calendar.
- We are running a few minutes behind. Thank you for your patience. We will start shortly.
What to put on the page while people wait
A waiting room is the first impression of the event, so make the wait useful. Show the agenda in three lines, link a short welcome note, or show the offer or resource you will mention later. Keep it to one or two things. A lobby crowded with links pulls people away just before you start.
Branding matters here too. A lobby with your logo, colours and a small on-brand animation tells guests they arrived somewhere built for them, not a generic holding screen.
Match the message to the moment
The same four facts can sound very different. A company all-hands lobby should be calm and practical: the name of the meeting, the start time, a reminder that microphones will be muted and a link to the agenda. A coach's masterclass lobby can be warmer: a welcome by first name, a line about what guests will learn, and a nudge to grab a notebook. A launch or celebration lobby can carry a little excitement, such as the doors open in five minutes and something big is coming.
Write the message for the person who arrives earliest, because they wait longest. If guests will sit in the lobby for ten minutes, give them something to read or a short welcome video. If the wait is a minute or two, keep it to the essentials. And read the message aloud before the event: if it sounds like a system notice, rewrite it until it sounds like a host at the door.
What not to say
Avoid instructions that make guests do work. Do not ask them to type a passcode, wait to be admitted or refresh the page if those are not needed. Avoid jargon such as host has not started the meeting, which sounds like an error. And never promise a time you cannot keep: if you are running late, update the message rather than letting the countdown sit at zero.
How BrandedRooms handles the lobby
In a BrandedRooms room, the branded waiting room does this job for you. It shows your message, such as your name will be joining shortly, a countdown, an add-to-calendar button and an on-brand animation. When you press Start the room, every waiting guest's page switches to the live meeting by itself, joined muted, so the reassurance line is true. Because the room passes the meeting passcode for guests, there is no passcode instruction to write.