A Hangout is a multi-participant video chat, with an admin (the person running it) and video screen sharing so that all participants can see each other. Other participants will appear in small screen thumbnails, underneath any participant who is currently speaking.

Hangouts can range from informal chats between a closed group of participants to heavily optimized public Hangout “shows”.



You can choose to broadcast and live stream your Hangout through Hangouts On Air – and Hangouts are automatically recorded and added to the YouTube account associated with the admin...

You can choose to broadcast and live stream your Hangout through Hangouts On Air – and Hangouts are automatically recorded and added to the YouTube account associated with the admin.

Hangouts are restricted to invited participants by default, if you don’t set them to “Public” sharing.
You can also display and view a YouTube video within a Hangout. To do this:

  • Open YouTube.com/live in your browser. You will see a stream of all currently live broadcasts
  • In a different window, start your Hangout and invite your participants
  • Once your Hangout is underway, go back to YouTube Live and select the video you want to share with your hangout
  • Click on the “Share” link underneath the video. Copy the URL.
  • Switch back to your Hangout. Open the video tab, enter the URL you copied and search for it.
  • Once you locate it, click play.


You can join a Hangout without a webcam, though you may find that limiting. If you don’t have one, check with the Hangout admin to make sure participating is okay. Some admins don’t like a blank screen stuck in the middle of their hangout participants’ screen displays – especially if they are running a publicized, formal “show”.

Likewise, if you discover on joining the hangout that your webcam is not compatible (which seems to happen quite often) you may wish to ask if you should bow out.

Although bugs are still being ironed out of Google+ Hangouts and documentation can be confusing, the business and branding potential is enormous.

Best advice for Google+ Hangouts?

Start out simply with a small, closed group until you’ve got the hang of running one!



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Sherion Premium
Another good one Tony! Thanks.
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mission0ps Premium
Any spelling mistakes?
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welshy Premium
Good stuff Tony, thanks for putting this together.
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mission0ps Premium
Cheers Craig - & I know you're the Hangout master here ;)
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ToddT182 Premium
Nice training man, thanks for the numbered lists. I work better noting them down just like that!
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mission0ps Premium
Ta buddy
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amfc Premium
Great Training, Tony. There is so much we can do with Google= that will help us reach out to others about our businesses. Thanks for sharing this training with us.
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mission0ps Premium
Cheers ,, I've added more about Google hangouts to my mission0ps weblog too
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ThomasPaul Premium Plus
on your google plus profile page under videos, is there a way to segment by videos? Where people from different circles will only see the videos you have shared with the circle they are a part of?
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mission0ps Premium
Yep - There is indeed check out what's coming up ;)
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