Skip to main content
Push-to-talk lets a Producer cut in and talk to participants mid-session without appearing on camera or landing in the recording. It’s available in the Control Room.
Producer-only featurePush-to-talk is only available to Producers in the Control Room. Learn more about roles in Descript Rooms

​
How push-to-talk works

Producers can choose who hears them when they use push-to-talk:
  • Everyone — Speak to all participants in the Recording Room
  • Specific participant — Speak privately to one individual in the Recording Room
While push-to-talk is active, participants see a visual indicator that someone is speaking. When push-to-talk is turned off, the audio stops. Producers are never recorded, even while using push-to-talk.
Producer using push-to-talk to speak to everyone

Push-to-talk in action — speaking to everyone in the Room.

Watch out for mic bleed and echoIf a participant isn’t wearing headphones and Echo Cancellation is turned off, their microphone may pick up audio from their speakers when a Producer uses push-to-talk. This can result in unintended audio being captured in the final recording.To avoid echo and mic bleed, we recommend all participants wear headphones. If headphones aren’t available, select No when prompted with Are you wearing headphones? before joining the Room. Learn more about adjusting your settings

​
How to silence push-to-talk

When a Producer uses push-to-talk to speak to an individual, the participant can temporarily silence the incoming audio by clicking the red hand button on the right side of the talking notification.
Push-to-talk notification with red hand icon

Participants can silence push-to-talk by clicking the red hand icon.

When a participant clicks the red hand to silence push-to-talk, the incoming audio immediately stops. The Producer can resume push-to-talk with that participant after a brief cooldown.
Push-to-talk temporarily silenced

Producers see an indicator when a participant silences push-to-talk audio.

Push-to-talk vs. direct messagesPush-to-talk is a live audio feature — it’s not the same as sending a private chat message (DM). When a Producer uses push-to-talk, they’re speaking to someone in real time, not sending a written message.