Discord is taking a leaf out of the Clubhouse playbook with audio-only "Stage Channels" that allow users to do presentations. 

The company says that over the last year more and more people have been using Discord and in new ways as well.

The voice chat service for gamers has transformed and is being used in more and more unusual ways. With everything going virtual and being socially distanced, things like festivals, conventions and even karaoke sessions have moved to Discord. 

Now the company is making moves to accommodate the needs of more people with Stage Channels. 

This new feature is being rolled out specifically to Community Servers and offer users the ability to broadcast live chats to a captive audience. The idea of Stage Channels is to create a place where people can present to an audience in a comfortable and engaging way. 

Stage Channels are designed so that users cannot talk over one another but instead audience members need to indicate if/when they would like to talk and then a moderator can actively move them to a speaking queue so they can get involved. 

Stage Channels are meant to be used for special events including voice ask me anything sessions, interviews, reading clubs, presentations and more.

Discord hopes that this new feature will help to bring people closer together, even just virtually with audio-centric events of all varieties for a wider audience. Naturally, Discord has a wider reach than Clubhouse as well, thanks to being open to users on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and more. 

To find out how to start your own Stage Channel see the FAQ page here