What is a telesummit? And why video summits replaced them

What is a telesummit?

A telesummit is an online event where a host interviews several experts on one topic, delivered mainly as audio.

Speakers joined by phone or a simple conference line. Attendees listened live, or downloaded the MP3 recordings for a limited time. Think of it as a virtual conference you listen to instead of watch.

The "tele" is for telephone, like the teleseminars that were popular before online video was easy.

How a telesummit works

A typical telesummit had:

• 5 to 30 audio interviews with experts
• A phone bridge line or a basic webinar tool
• A simple registration page with an email box
• Free access to each interview for 24 to 48 hours
• A paid package with all the recordings, often as MP3s

The business model was the same one summits use today: free while it's live, and a paid pass to keep everything.

Telesummit vs virtual summit

The biggest difference isn't the video. It's perception. A professional summit makes the host look like a leader in their space, and that makes everything else easier to sell.

The decision that changed my business

In 2014, I could have done what most people in my space were doing and hosted an audio telesummit.

Instead, I followed what I'd seen in some health summits and went with video. The Branding Summit had 88 speakers, and I recorded the interviews on video.

It brought in over $20,000 in sales and close to 3,000 attendees. That same month, I quit my part-time job.

I've hosted video summits ever since. When I launched the AI for Creators Summit in 2024, I had no track record in AI. It still grew into the AI Creator Summit, which 100,000+ creators from 110+ countries have tuned in to. People didn't join because I was the AI expert. They joined because I brought the right experts together at the right time.

Telesummit vs podcast vs webinar

A telesummit sits between a podcast and a virtual summit. It has the many experts of a summit, but the audio-only format of a podcast.

When an audio format still makes sense

• Your audience listens on the go. Commuters, parents and people who train a lot often prefer audio.
• Your speakers won't do video. Some experts are happy to talk but don't want to be on camera.
• You're testing a topic. An audio series is a fast, low-effort way to see if people care, before you build a full summit.

Even then, record video when you can, and offer the audio as a second option.

Mistakes that sank telesummits

These are the mistakes that made many telesummits forgettable, and they still sink summits today:

• Too many speakers. 40 audio interviews is overwhelming, not generous.
• Bad audio. In an audio-only event, bad sound is the whole experience.
• No clear promise. "Experts share their tips" doesn't make anyone sign up.
• No next step. Free sessions and nothing to buy means no business.
• Speakers picked for fame. A big name with a generic interview hurts your reputation.

Do telesummits still work today?

Audio isn't dead. Podcasts are bigger than ever, and plenty of people would rather listen on a walk than watch a screen.

But today, an audio-only summit leaves too much on the table. Your audience expects video, and video gives you so much more to work with afterward: clips for every platform, a replay vault, a course.

The best of both: record every interview on video, then offer an audio version too. Attendees can watch or listen, and you get a podcast feed out of the same recordings.

How to host a modern summit instead

You don't need a studio or a big budget:

• Recording: a tool like Riverside that records each person's video and audio separately, in high quality.
• Editing: Descript, which lets you edit video by editing the transcript.
• Site: today I host my summits on AI Summit OS, my set of summit templates from registration to replay vault. Claude builds from them, so a summit site comes together fast.
• Gear: a good USB microphone and a webcam, or even your phone. My video gear guide has the setup I use.

The full step-by-step is in how to host a virtual summit.

What modern summits have done for my students

None of these hosts had a big audience before their first summit:

Caitlin Pyle

Founder of Proofread Anywhere

We grew an email list of over 60,000 new subscribers in about a week’s time and we generated $502,000 in revenue through our first virtual summit.

If you want step-by-step instruction and you just want to get it done with as little stress as possible, then I would absolutely recommend everything Navid Moazzez is teaching.

Read more

Steph Gaudreau

Host of the Women's Strength Summit

Navid Moazzez gave me all the details I needed to run a very successful first-time online event.

My Women’s Strength Summit fielded nearly 20,000 free registrations and 100’s of sales.

More importantly, people commented on how valuable and professional the summit was, and that’s directly because of everything I learned from Navid.

Read more

Chandler Bolt

Founder & CEO, Selfpublishing.com

Navid helped me earn $370k+ and 30,000 email subscribers in less than 2 months… it completely transformed our business to a multi million dollar online education company (the summit we did in 2016 was even bigger with almost 40,000 opt-ins!).

It all started with the proven business and marketing strategies Navid shared.. go sign up to his email newsletter now!

Read more

These results would have been very hard with an audio telesummit.

Final thoughts on telesummits

Telesummits paved the way for today's online events. They proved that people will sign up to learn from a group of experts, and pay to keep the recordings.

But the format has moved on. A video summit, with an audio option, gives your attendees a better experience and gives you far more to build on.

If you're planning your first event, read what is a virtual summit, then how to host one. My upcoming book Virtual Summit OS teaches my full method, rebuilt so AI does most of the work.