Zoom: Tips and Tricks for Zoom Meetings

Getting Started

• Zoom has a user guide for new users and a whole set of Video Tutorials
• Explore and set your preferences
  • There are preferences in the Zoom application itself that you can set for your preferred way of using zoom
  • There are many more preferences available in your Zoom Profile Online
• Look through Zoom's list of Meeting and Webinar Best Practices
• You may be able to reduce Zoom fatigue by turning off your view of your own video

Your Audio and Video

• Audio tips
  • You can see which microphone Zoom is using by clicking on the little triangle near the microphone button (lower left of the screen). If you intend to use a headset but Zoom is still using your computer's built-in speakers, for example, this is how you can change your microphone.
  • Zoom selects one participant at a time when it's sharing audio, so it doesn't work well to have two people try to talk at the same time, or to have background noises from one participant "interrupt" another participant. Try to make it so that only one microphone at a time needs to be transmitting sound to the group.
  • Choose a place that is separate from where other people will be talking whenever possible. Shared office environments are difficult sound environments both for you and for your office mates.
  • If you're in a place where you can't control your background noise, be sure to stay muted whenever you're not speaking so that Zoom doesn't accidentally choose your background noise over other participants when deciding which sounds to share to everyone in the meeting.
  • Zoom has advice for managing audio echos in meetings
• Video tips
  • While joining a meeting with your camera on allows for easier collegial interactions, it's not always the best choice. If you have an unstable or slow internet connection, turning off your video can improve your Zoom connection.
  • If you have a lot of visual distraction or a private space in your camera's view, consider a virtual background but keep in mind that virtual backgrounds can be distracting too if they are busy or the camera has trouble distinguishing where you end and your room begins.  

Common Meeting Functionality

• Optimizing a shared video (so that it plays smoothly for your participants)
• Slides as a Virtual Background
• Zoom Polling (available to Hosts)
• Breakout Rooms (set up by Hosts)

Zoom for Classrooms

• PEPS maintains a page with Zoom tips for classroom use