Zoom: Introducing Zoom Tools to Participants
This document provides an overview of how to introduce the Zoom tools to the participants of a meeting or Webinar.
It is good practice to introduce your participants to the tools that they may need to use during a Zoom meeting or webinar. Participants of a Zoom meeting see some different tool than participants of a webinar. Click on the following link for the Zoom room you are using:
Zoom Meetings
Mute Audio
It is good practice to mute all participants as they enter, especially if you have a large group. This setting will need to be set before the meeting starts.
1. Log into Zoom at: https://siue.zoom.us/signin/.
2. From the Personal section, click on Settings.
3. From the Schedule Meeting section, go to "Mute participants upon entry" and toggle that on.
4. Explain to the students that they can mute and unmute themselves by clicking on the microphone in the lower left corner of the Zoom tool bar.
Video Off
It is also good practice to turn off the participant's video as they enter, especially if you have a large group. This setting will also need to be set before the meeting starts.
1. Log into Zoom at: https://siue.zoom.us/signin/.
2. From the Personal section, click on Settings.
4. Explain to the students that they can turn on and off themselves by clicking on the camera in the lower left corner of the Zoom tool bar. If students are on poor or unstable wifi, they will have better connection if they turn off their video.
5. During the presentation, you can recommend that student hide the thumbnail videos by clicking on the small thumbnail icon in the video panel.
Chat
Note: There is no Q&A feature in Zoom meetings like there is in a Zoom webinar. For a best practice, consider having a colleague or assign one of the students to monitor your chat for questions. Also consider breaking up your presentation for Q&A time so that students have a chance to ask questions before moving on to the next topic.
1. Introduce the Chat feature in the tool bar.
2. Students should select "Everyone" to chat to the entire class. If they wish to ask you something in private, they should select your name in the list.
Breakout Rooms
If you are using Breakout Rooms, inform students that you will be assigning them to a breakout room. When they get this notification, they should click Join.
Note: you will have the option of closing the breakout rooms and sending the students back to the main Zoom meeting room at any time. Students will then have 60 seconds to leave the room before the rooms automatically close.
Reactions
Students may wish to silently react to the presentation. Show them if they click on the Reactions in the tool bar...
They will have the option of a clapping or thumbs-up emoticon.
The reaction will clear itself after a few seconds.
You may wish to ask questions or have the students raise their hand to talk. There are more reactions at the bottom of the participant's panel. Show the students when they click on the Participants in the tool bar...
... at the bottom are more reactions. Have the students clap or raise their hands to try it out. Students will click on the icon a second time to clear it.
Presentation
Consider starting your presentation with a slide walking your students through the tools you will be using:
Feel free to use this PowerPoint template as an example:
Zoom Webinar
Zoom webinars differ from Zoom meetings in several different ways. First, webinars have a separate Q&A function where as meetings only have the Chat function. Also, participants cannot unmute their audio, turn on their video, or share their screen.
Question & Answer Panel
Encourage your participants to use the Q&A for questions and use the Chat panel for comments, links, etc.
It's best practice to have someone help monitor the Q&A panel for you during the presentation. This allows questions to be answered without taking time from your presentation. There is a feature to allow questions to be asked live. This notifies you to respond to the question to the whole group.
Chat
Like Zoom meetings, the webinar also has a chat feature. Participants should be encourage to post comments here.
Note in the Chat panel, the "To" field defaults to All Panelist. That is only the hosts, co-hosts, and panelists, not the attendees. Have the participants select "All panelists and attendees" and send a "Hello" message to the group so they can practice. It is also a good practice to have a colleague monitor the chat. At this point, they can see if any participant did not select the "All panelists and attendees"and send them a reminder. This colleague can also monitor chat throughout the presentation to catch any questions that might get posted and to remind participants to post questions in the Q&A section.
Audio & Video Controls
Note that there is not Audio or Webcam icon in the tool bar. Participants cannot unmute their audio or start their video. If the host allows a participant the ability to talk, the participant can unmute their mic. You may wish to communicate this with participants from the beginning.
Raise Hand
The quickest way to get the host's attention is to raise your hand. This can be done by clicking the "Raised Hand" button in the toolbar. If you are using colleagues to help monitor Chat and Q&A, they can also watch for raised hands. Determine with your colleagues if you want them to interrupt you or wait until you stop for questions. Once you have determined that someone has a question, you can enable their mic so they may ask the question live.
Presentation
Consider starting your webinar with a slide walking your participants through the tools you will be using:
Feel free to use this PowerPoint template as an example:
See Also
- Zoom: Request a Webinar
- Zoom: Webinar Settings for Participants
- Zoom: Invite Others to Join a Meeting (Faculty & Students)
- Zoom: Schedule a Recurring Meeting (Faculty)
- Zoom: Record a Meeting/Lecture/Presentation (Faculty & Students)
- Zoom: Test Audio (Faculty & Students)
- Zoom: Sign In to the Zoom Desktop App (Faculty & Students)