HeySummit gives you two organiser-controlled ways to let speakers help choose when their talks happen. You can let speakers request a preferred time from availability windows, or you can create specific open slots that speakers claim from their Speaker Dashboard.
Both approaches are managed from Speaker Settings. The right choice depends on whether you want speakers to suggest from a flexible window, or choose from exact scheduled slots you have already created.
Choose a scheduling workflow
From your event dashboard, go to Event Setup and open Speaker Settings. In the Talks tab, find How Are Speaker Talks Scheduled?.
You will see three options: Manual, Availability Windows, and Open Slots. Manual means you schedule and assign talks yourself. Availability Windows and Open Slots are the two speaker-facing scheduling workflows.
Option 1: Availability Windows
Use Availability Windows when you want speakers to propose a preferred time, but you still want to review the request before finalising the schedule.
With this approach, you choose the date range, earliest and latest times, slot duration, and gap between possible times. Speakers then choose a preferred slot from those available times when editing their talk in the Speaker Dashboard.
This is a good fit when your schedule is still flexible, when you want to collect preferences before assigning final times, or when you are comfortable reviewing speaker requests manually.
When a speaker requests a time, HeySummit shows that request on the talk record so you can accept or reject it. The talk time is not treated as final until you approve it.
Option 2: Open Slots
Use Open Slots when you want to create exact scheduled talk slots first, then let speakers claim from those slots.
This approach gives you more control over the schedule. You can create one slot at a time or generate several slots in a batch, choose categories and stages, set the broadcast type, and decide how many slots each speaker can claim.
Open slots are normal talks with no speakers assigned yet. Speakers only see them after you create them, and they can claim up to the limit you set in Speaker Settings.
If you assign categories to open slots, speakers see the available slots grouped by category in their Speaker Dashboard. Slots without a category appear under No Category.
Which approach should I use?
Choose Availability Windows if you want speakers to suggest a preferred time and you want the organiser to approve the final schedule.
Choose Open Slots if you already know the exact slots you want to offer and you want speakers to claim from a controlled list.
Choose Manual if speakers should not choose or request their own talk time.
Things to check before inviting speakers
Make sure each speaker has access to the Speaker Dashboard.
For Availability Windows, make sure the date range, time range, duration, and gap settings create the times you expect.
For Open Slots, create the slots before asking speakers to choose. Speakers will not see any open slots until they exist.
If you use categories or stages, check that they match the way you want the schedule to be organised.
Preview the Speaker Dashboard as an organiser if you want to check what speakers will see.