Skip to main content

Zoom Tips

Community members who are hosting virtual meetings may find this information helpful in order to troubleshoot and manage meetings more effectively.

Claiming Host in a Meeting​

For easy reference, watch this video that shows the process of claiming host on Zoom.

In order to have host access in your meeting, you need to claim the position as a host. Follow these steps:

Default Meeting Settings​

Zoom accounts come with default settings. As host, you should be aware of these so that you can help address and modify settings as needed. Go to the settings tab on your account to make adjustments as needed.

Recording a Meeting​

Recording meetings is a great way to let people in other time zones benefit from the meeting content. If you record your meeting, we can post it on Youtube and share it with the community. The following instructions may help: Enabling and starting local recordings.

Moderating Meetings and Dealing with Disruptions​

After the meeting has started you can make use of the following host features to moderate your meetings and deal with any bad actors:

  • Prepare to mute people who are making unwanted noises and who don't realize that they are unmuted. As host, you can select specific participants and mute them. Make sure you have the participant list view open while hosting a meeting and it will show you the mute/unmute status of everyone in the meeting.
  • Assign a co-host to help with moderation
  • Turn off screen sharing for everyone and indicate only host. If you have others that need to share their screen, the host can enable that on the fly. (via the ^ menu next to Share Screen). Be on the lookout for people that you don't know who are requesting to get screen access.
  • Put the troll or bad actor on hold. The participant will be put into a waiting room and will not be able to participate in the call until the host removes the hold.
  • Remove the participant. Please be cautious when testing or using this feature, as it is permanent. They will never be able to come back into that meeting ID on that particular device. Do not joke around with this feature; it's better to put the attendee on "hold" first and then remove.

You can find these functions when clicking on the more or "..." options after scrolling over the participants name/information.

For more information, consult the Zoom blog post on How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event.

Screen sharing guidelines and recommendations​

As a first step, check out the documentation on how to use the Zoom screen sharing feature.

For screen sharing, we also recommend the following:

  • Turn off notification to prevent any interference.
  • Close all sensitive documents and unrelated programs before sharing the screen.
  • Test your presentation beforehand to make sure everything goes smoothly.
  • Keep your desktop clean. Avoid any offensive or/and distracting background.

Hardware recommendations​

Here are a few hardware tips that help avoid problems on your virtual meetings:

  • Dedicated microphone - The most significant upgrade for hosting professional calls is a microphone. Clear sound will make a huge impact on the quality of your call. Look into a microphone like the Blue Yeti or similar. Also consider a pop filter.
  • Video Camera - In general, external cameras offer a much better quality picture. You will also be able to optimally position them, which can be challenging with integrated desktop cameras.
  • Quality headphones - Headphones cut down on the audio feedback which is specifically important with larger meetings. Headsets with integrated microphones are also available.

Tips for hosts and attendees​

  • Join on muted audio and video in order to prevent noise to those already in a call.
  • If you don't have anything to say at that moment, put yourself on mute. If you have a meeting co-host, they can help with muting noisy attendees. Don't feel bad if this happens to you, it's a common occurrence.
  • Try to find a quiet place to join from; some coworking spaces and coffee shops have a ton of ambient noise that won't be obvious to you but will be to other attendees.
  • Consider using visual signals for finding agreement. This is a useful technique e.g. when we are looking for consensus. A simple thumbs up can go a long way!
  • It is common for people to step on each other when there's an audio delay, and both parties are trying to communicate something. Don't worry, just remember to try and pause before speaking, or consider raising your hand (if your video is on) to help the host determine who should speak first.