Tips for Zoom to Optimize Your Experience

(7-minute read)

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As we all embrace our new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic, something that has become a part of our current existence is video conferencing.  In fact, video has become an important lifeline for building and maintaining customer relationships. And although there are several platforms to choose from (Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts to name a few,) the app of choice by parents, co-workers, friends, grandparents, and neighbors is Zoom - an easy to use, free system that offers 40-minute conference calls with up to 100 attendees. 

According to Zoom’s CEO, Eric Yuan and his team are focusing on security and privacy protections over the next 90 days due to the unexpected growth of the platform over the last month, going from it’s the highest usage of 10 million free and paid versions in 2019 to a whopping 200 million daily meeting participants in the month of March alone.  "We now have a much broader set of users who are utilizing our product in a myriad of unexpected ways,” he said.  In fact, more than 90,000 schools in 20 countries are using Zoom for online education.  People have even flocked to the service to host digital clubs and even host weddings!  

I have been a Zoom Pro user for the past 2 years and have relied on this platform to communicate with my clients remotely ever since. As a result, I have learned many tips and tricks along the way that I have optimized my usage of this wonderful tool that has streamlined the way that I meet with my clients.  With all these new users and innovative ways Zoom is being used for in order to stay connected during this time of social distancing, I think it’s important to share some basic Zoom etiquette and best practice tips in order to help you to optimize the experience for both you and all participants involved. I’m happy to pass what I’ve learned onto you in order to help make your experience as optimized as ever.

• BE SURE TO HAVE THE APPLICATION DOWNLOADED TO THE DEVICE YOU PLAN TO USE DURING YOUR ZOOMS.

Make sure that you have the latest update installed since Zoom developers are updating the platform with security and privacy modifications.  In order to have the best experience with Zoom, I suggest that you download the app to your devices that you plan to attend or host your meetings.  It makes the experience much more seamless.

• MAKE YOUR MEETINGS PRIVATE AND REQUIRE A PASSWORD IN ORDER FOR PEOPLE TO ENTER YOUR MEETING ROOM.

When you are the host of your meetings, you have the option of requiring a password in order for attendees to access your meeting room.  In order to avoid Zoombombing, I also suggest that you don’t share your links on social media and email or text invitations directly to participants. Once all your attendees have entered into the meeting room, you have the ability to lock out any newcomers by clicking on the Participants tab and choosing the "Lock Meeting” option.

• TEST YOUR AUDIO TO ENSURE THAT YOUR SPEAKER AND MICS ARE FUNCTIONING.  

  Zoom will prompt you to test these settings before you join any meetings, which I suggest that you do for this for your initial meeting on a device that you haven’t Zoomed on before in order to ensure that you will be able to hear and be heard.

• SET YOUR VIDEO TO OFF AND YOUR AUDIO TO MUTE AS A DEFAULT UPON ENTERING A MEETING ROOM.  

  There is nothing more jarring to when a person is entering a room with their audio on.  Knowing that the person who is speaking will dominate the screen, having your audio on may interrupt the meeting in session.  

  If you are the Host of the meeting, you also have the ability to mute or unmute all attendees by selecting on “Manage Participants” or "Participants" on a tablet:

• MAKE USE OF THE HANDY KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS.

Did you know that there were plenty of default keyboard shortcuts available to use during your meetings?  One of the handiest shortcuts on the desktop option is to press and hold the SPACE bar to temporarily unmute yourself when you want to speak.  If you are a Mac user like me, you can also press ⌘Cmd+Shift+A (PC users press Alt+A) to mute/unmute your audio. If you are the host of the meeting, you can press ⌘Cmd+Ctrl+M (or Alt+M for PC's) to mute everyone on the call at once.

• BE SURE TO VISIT YOUR SETTINGS BEFORE ANY MEETINGS TO SET UP YOUR PROFILE AND ACCOUNT.

There are a lot of cool features you can use during your meetings, so in order to make your Zoom experience even better, I suggest that you should go to Settings to update your options.  

Here are some cool ones to update:

• In Settings>>General, you can change your Color palette theme and Reaction Skin Tone for a more personal experience.

• In Settings>>Video, you can mirror your video, hide non-video participants, and even apply a beauty filter for yourself with the Touch up My Appearance function, which will make you look dewy and well-rested :-). This instant filter provides a very subtle smoothing of fine lines and under-eye bags so if you having an early morning meeting, this may be perfect for you! 

• In Settings>> Audio, you can test your speaker and mic or default your mic to be muted before you join, 

• In Settings>>Keyboard Shortcuts, you can customize your shortcuts in order to easily apply some of the features. 

• In Settings>>Virtual Background, you can change your background.  This cool feature allows you to upload an image or video of anything you want and customize your background. It’s available for both iPhones (8 and later) and desktops. (Think of cool backdrops with your branding or a movie reel of your work….the possibilities are endless!)

As we continue to explore how to live in a more virtual world in order to practice social distancing, I hope these tips help you in creating an optimized experience. If you are just starting out to use the service to meet virtually or educate your community, HERE is a great resource created by Zoom. As always, please reach out if you have any questions or comments.

XO,