Basic Zoom Etiquette

If you’re new to Zoom video conferences, here’s how you obtain the Zoom application and join a meeting. Then we provide some basic points of video conference etiquette to ensure an enjoyable conference experience for everybody.

Getting Zoom

Zoom is an application that runs on your computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. In general, it’s best to join the conference from your best device. In other words, a computer/laptop is usually better than a tablet, which is generally better than a phone. This is largely based on screen size; the bigger the screen, the bigger the video you’ll see of the presentations.

Use the following link to visit the Zoom download page: https://zoom.us/download.
Install the Zoom application to your device.

Joining the Meeting

Use the Invitation Link

The invitations for our monthly meetings always include a link for joining the Zoom meeting. If you’re on the device where you installed the Zoom application, you can simply click the link to join the meeting. The meeting link is available from the invitation email, or from the invitation blog post. (Check the Meetings archive for the latest meeting invitation blog post.)

Use the Meeting ID and Passcode

If link to join the meeting isn’t working, you can join from the Zoom application itself. Follow the steps below.

From the invitation email or blog post, copy the Meeting ID from the Zoom invitation section. You’ll need this number to join the meeting in Zoom.
Start the Zoom application.
In the main toolbar, click the Home button.
On the Home screen, click the Join a meeting button.
Paste the meeting ID you copied in step 1 into the Meeting ID or personal Link name in the Zoom Join a Meeting pane.
Enter your full name into the Your name field.
Click Join.
Zoom prompts you for the passcode.
Back in the invitation email or blog post, copy the Passcode from the Zoom invitation section.
Return to the Zoom application and paste in the passcode.
Click Join.

Zoom Etiquette

Use the following guidelines to help everybody have a productive video conference.

Mute your Microphone

Audio feedback and background noise are the biggest problem of video conferences. Sometimes it’s feedback from an attendee’s speakers tuned up to rock-concert levels. Other times it’s the background noises of dogs barking or the spouse watching TV, sneaking into the conference audio from an attendee’s open microphone.

In general, if you’re not speaking, mute your microphone! In the lower left corner of the Zoom window are two buttons that turn on/off your microphone and video camera. The red slash across the microphone icon means you’re muted. Note that your microphone will automatically be muted when you join the meeting.

Raise your Hand

When you have a question, or something to contribute to the conversation, you can electronically raise your hand to let the meeting host know that you have something to say. The meeting host will wait for a good break, and acknowledge your request. Then you can un-mute your microphone, voice your question, observation, anecdote, whatever, and then mute your microphone again.

To raise your hand, click the Reactions button on the toolbar at the bottom of the window and select Raise Hand from the resulting menu. Note that this toolbar disappears when you’re not using your mouse, so you might have to move your mouse to reveal it.

Try Not to Talk Over Each Other

For remote attendees on the Zoom call, it’s difficult to pick up the presenter’s message when two other conversations are taking place in the background. Consequently, it’s polite for in-person meeting attendees to keep any side conversations quiet and brief.

Conserving your Bandwidth

If you don’t have a very good internet connection when you attend the meeting via the Zoom call, you may find that the audio quality is poor. If this is the case it will help to disable your video. As much as we’d like to see your smiling face on the call, it’s more important that you omit your video feed in favor of improved audio and presentation video from the main meeting.

Mute Everything for In-Person Connections

Some in-person attendees may prefer to bring a laptop/tablet/phone to connect to the meeting so the presentation video is directly in front of them. In this scenario, please mute your microphone and turn your speakers all the way down. This will help prevent the room microphone from picking up your device’s speakers, which inevitably leads to obnoxious feedback.