Zoom
Zoom is a great option to run successful meetings, conferences and webinars. In this series we have produced a selection of videos, with easy to implement advice, to improve and overcome any issues that you may have, to ensure your event runs smoothly and you achieve the best results.
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Getting Started
Setting Up a Meeting, Scheduling and Inviting
If you are new to Zoom you will want to know how to set up a meeting, schedule it and send out invites, or you have been the person who has attended Zoom meetings but never had to set one up. Here with Lisa I go through what you need to do.
Joining a Meeting and Choose a Virtual Background
If you haven't used Zoom before and have been asked to attend a meeting or webinar then here is what you have to do. You can also change your background using a virtual background which can be one of the built in images or one of your own.
Microphone and Camera Settings
How to Fix Audio Problems in a Zoom Meeting or Webinar
It's quite likely that if you have been using Zoom that either you or someone on the call has had problems with their audio and no one can hear them or perhaps they, or you, cannot hear everyone else.
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Sometimes it is as simple as unmute and turning the volume up. Other times there is a bit more to sort it out.
Switching Cameras in a Zoom Meeting or Webinar
Using the built in webcam is convenient but not always the best camera when on a Zoom call. Also if you do have more than one camera connected you can switch between them. Very useful if you are teaching or demonstrating something.
Using an iPhone as a Document Camera
It can be really handy to have a second camera, particularly if you are teaching or demonstrating. Here I use an iPhone as a document camera. With the ring light I already have I can angle this down to look at a document. It doesn't have to be a do document, you can use this for teaching cooking, music and many other things where getting another angle really helps.
Meeting Options
Assigning Co-Hosts to a Zoom Meeting or Webinar
Co-hosts can really help manage a meeting or webinar. This can be particularly useful for managing breakout rooms, dealing with Q&As and recording. Co-hosts do have some limitations which are mentioned in this video.
Switching Chat On and Off
When you switch chat off it is done for all of your meetings and webinars. You can switch it on again. However, you can't switch it on and off during a call. It is done on the Zoom settings page when you login to your account on the website.
You might find it necessary to switch off the chat to prevent confusion in a webinar when you want attendees to ask questions using the Q&A. You might also find it useful for stopping participants getting distracted and chatting to each other
Screen Sharing
The New Way to Share Video in Zoom
If you want to play video that you have on your computer then Zoom have made it easier to play the video. Now when you play you choose the file, The participants do not see your mouse movements or you clicking on the play or pause button. You can also fast forward or rewind without them seeing you move the slider. Make sure you have the latest version of Zoom for this feature.
Playing Video Smoothly When Screen Sharing in Zoom
Playing video in Zoom can be jerky, who wants to see jerky video. There is a way to make it playback smoothly and by choosing these simple options will make all the difference.
Allowing Speakers to Screen Share
You don't have to make presenters a co-host to allow them to share their screen. Although this does work you might not want them to be doing other things like recording. It is really easy to do and if you want to have it so that it allows is set to allow others to share screen I show you that too.
Using the Annotate Tool When Screen Sharing
When you are screen sharing you might want to mark up what you are showing on the screen. It could be a PowerPoint presentation, software, website, image, basically anything you are sharing with your audience. The annotations can be saved as images or PDFs. If you are recording then the annotations show up in the recording.
Virtual Backgrounds
Using Virtual Background and When to Use a Green Screen
Virtual backgrounds can work really well, the plainer the background the better and well lit too. Here I show you how to use it and why that option you might have seen for green screen is useful.
Setting Up a Green Screen
If you do want to use a green screen this is how to set one up. You can get smaller green screens, the one I have here is big and use it when I do film at work or for clients.
Use PowerPoint or Keynote as a Virtual Background
Why not have a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation as your background. You can refer to it and move through your presentation. You can resize yourself and change the position of where you appear on the screen
Webinars
Practice Session in Zoom Webinar
Practice sessions allow you and other panelists to prepare and practise without attendees seeing or hearing what you are doing. This is a very useful way to check their connections, the audio, video and also any screen sharing. It is also an opportunity for the host to discuss what will be happening and for the panelists to catchup.
Panellists for Zoom Webinar
If you are running a webinar chances are you will have panellists. Here is how to add panellists.
Creating a Poll for a Zoom Webinar
Feedback is always useful and having a poll when you have a webinar is great way to find this out from your attendees. You can have questions come up at any time during the webinar to gauge audience reaction.
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You set the questions for the poll up in advance and here is how you to it.
Recordings
Better Quality Zoom Recordings
Recording a Zoom meeting or webinar is very useful as you might want to archive it or edit it later.
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Either way you can improve the quality of the video and at the same time make a better file for editing in your video editor.
Separate Audio Tracks When Recording
Editing a Zoom recording can be tricky if you are trying to fix a problem like noise coming from someones computer or perhaps their notifications when they are not speaking. They also might not have muted when then were not speaking and can hear what it is going on. By having separate audio tracks you can more easily fix this later.