How to Use Zoom for your Online Meetings
What your need to know
Dear Practitioners with Zoom,
Zoom offer cloud conferencing/meetings/webinars.
You can join from anywhere in the world.
Here are list of helpful pointers to using Zoom. These pointers consists of notes I wrote while receiving tutorials from Ulla and one from Bella. I used Zoom tutorials and Youtube tutorials.
- How to Join a Zoom meeting
- How to Set Up an Account and Host a Meeting
- How to Position your Computer Lighting with Zoom
- How to use Schedule a Meeting
- Extra tutorial for Zoom
- Upon Receiving an email to join a Zoom meeting.
These are the notes I put together suitable for our online teachings courses.
I trust the points are clear for you. If not, do use Zoom Help, tutorials and Youtube to find the solution.
You may set up your needs differently.
You can host a basic free online use of Zoom or pay month by month. No contract. Can stop any time.
How to Join a Zoom Meeting
- Click on http link right above. Zoom will tell you what to do next.
- Zoom will ask if you have a Zoom app. Easy to download in seconds. You can use a Zoom App on computer, phone or tablet. You will be guided to install a zoom App.
- You will go to Launch Zoom or download. Use Meeting ID
- You may see a note telling you to wait for host to start meeting. Hosts arrives 10 minutes before time to start.
- You can choose if you wish to be seen or not. See video camera symbol.
- On your mobile phone, go to App store and look for Zoom Cloud Meetings or Zoom Client Meetings. If you need an App under launching, you will see ‘download and run Zoom.
- Watch it download over several seconds
- Then click and write in your name to join the Meeting.
- Join with computer audio to hear other people.
- On bottom left hand corner is the microphone. You may wish people to hear you or not. For example, you would not wish to be heard if the speaker for the evening is giving a talk or guided meditation. So, click ikon to mute in that time.
- If you do not wish to be seen, you turn off the video ikon at bottom left
- Use Manage Participants in middle bottom of screen to see who is there on top of right-hand side.
- Click on the Chat ikon at bottom of screen. See Chat column on right hand side with chance to write something at bottom of screen.
- You can write hello to everyone. You can write a question for the teacher at any time. Most people prefer to write a question than ask one. Do encourage use of Chat o ask questions or make a short response. Read the question out, take a mindful breath and respond with precision.
- You see everybody’s faces in the Gallery view at the top and scroll along. The person who is talking is show big in the centre of the screen.
- On bottom right is Leave Meeting. You can leave at any time during the Meeting.
How Set up an Account and Host a Meeting
- Go to Zoom website
- Sign up
- Enter email address or sign in with Google.
- Click on my account
- This shows profile.
- Take photograph of yourself from computer and put in photo spot. If you needed to stop in middle (kids are yelling etc), then you tell participants. Your photo would be centre screen until you returned.
- Go to Host a Meeting at top right-hand side with video on
- Sign in in the drop down square in middle of the screen
How to Position your Computer for Lighting with Zoom
- Have good lighting behind the laptop. If you have a window, then you face the window with computer/tablet right in front of you.
- Sit tall rather than slumped posture
- If night hours, then use a lamp, if possible. Place lamp close behind computer and facing away from laptop.
- Check the lighting on your face by opening up your Zoom screen. Experiment. Take notes of best position.
- Lighting spread evenly over the face is best – better than bright on one side of the face and dark shadow on the other side of the face.
- Try to sit close to computer for visibility and for computer microphone to pick up your voice.
- An empty space around you keeps focus on you rather than you lots in lots of stuff in the room. (I switched from my office to living room for Zoom).
- Make sure computer is level with your face to speak and be seen.
- Look into the camera at top of computer. You viewers will see you looking directly into their screen.
- If possible position the laptop, so you look very slightly upwards into the camera rather than downwards.
How to Schedule a Meeting
- Click on Schedule a meeting. See a new page appears with Topic at top.
- Type in topic, such as Meditation and Talk. Duration of session is for participants, but host is not bound to this time.
- Generate automatically
- No tick required in Password Meeting Box so participants can join easily
- Video Host is On in blue. Participants is On in blue
- On in Blue in telephone and computer audio
- Meeting Options
- Do not lick Enable Join before host.
- Click mute participants before entry
- Do not click enable waiting room
- Tick in Automatically
- Tick box to Record Meeting.
- Do not click Only Authenticated Users can Join
- Do not click Breakout room pre-assign
- Tick Record the meeting automatically.
- Put in email address of alternative host so teacher is not also the host.
- Click on Save at very bottom of the section.
- Click on Copy the Invitation on right side of screen
- Then Invitation arises with Password etc.
- Clip on Copy to Clipboard.
- Go to your Gmail account, enter your email address and Control V to enter details for next meeting. Later you forward details to others. Invitation with the passwords as text in your email you then send to yourself.
- Then click on X in top right of box
- Click on Start meeting
- Open the meeting 5-10 minutes before actual meeting.
- Join with Computer audio
- Move cursor to bottom of page to see options
- Click top right ikon for full screen.
- Manage Participants window is only available to the host
- . In top right you can use Management Participants Window to mute or unmute them. Use Mute All button for the talk or guided meditation. Remember to Unmute All in the button next to Mute.
- See Record in audio and video to put on computer
- Use Share screen at bottom of page.
- You can share a power point, video or picture. Click and you can go to your computer to select anything. We will use feature to request a donation (dana) with document giving Paypal address. Have page ready. Click on it and you will go to your computer and find what you want to share.
- End meeting means all communication for all comes to its close. Leave meeting means you leave but others can communicate between them. Would suggest you End meeting and advise this is closure.
Go to top of page and set up profile with photo of yourself that is on your computer
Extra Tutorial while on Zoom
- Remember to save any new Zoom meeting before Start of Meeting.
- Save is at foot of page of entering info.
- To invite co-host, go to name of person and click on MORE
- It will say ‘Invite Co-host’
- Then click on gmail.
- Then enter gmail address of co-host
- Then Send.
- Then go to bottom of screen and click on the Zoom ikon.
- Then click on face of myself to go back to Zoom screen.
- Speaker View. Tell the person to click.
- Remember to MUTE all.
- Participants Unmutes their name to speak.
- Participant Mutes their name after speaking
- (to minimise sounds from different participants)
- If Chat comes up in the middle of the screen, then go to three dots in bottom right of screen
- Then Click on Merge the Meeting window. The Chat will then move to right hand side.
- If screen freezes, then switch off video. Go to bottom left hand side of screen and click on video item to switch off. This will still allow you to listen and speak in audio
- If you leave screen, remember to click on Mute so you cannot be heard.
- Do not click on Full Screen as one will lose CHAT column.
- If you cannot see your face on in Zoom group meeting, scroll bar across with line of faces until you see your face. Click there
- If you seem not connected, go to small arrow besides Video camera in left hand corner. Then click on USB Live Camera if you have attached camera on top of laptop.
- If you wish to show yourself in large format on screen, then go to your small format of yourself. Click on three dots on right hand side of your small format.
- Click on Pin Video. If everybody is Muted, you can speak in full screen. If you click to End Pin after giving the talk, then the questioner will be full sreen when he or she unmutes to speak.
Upon Receiving an e-Mail to Join a Meeting
You may receive an email with following notification.
Mindfulness Online Courses is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
For example. General Topic (for 60 minutes). Guided Meditation. Talk. Questions and Answers with Christopher
Time: (UK)… London
Join Zoom Meeting
http…
Meeting ID
Password:
With above details, go to Zoom website.
Please forward the above information to anybody who might be interested via email or social media.
Love
Christopher
www.mindfulnesstrainingcourse.org