Quick Guide for Participants
Enter the Zoom Meeting
Your meeting host/instructor will provide the URL to the Zoom room. Simply click the URL or paste into your browser of choice to open the meeting. See Join a Meeting guide for more detailed steps. Also check out Pre-Meeting Checklist and Online Meeting Best Practices to make sure you're prepared to join an online meeting.
Once the meeting has started you will see the Zoom menu bar at the bottom of the screen. If you do not see the menu bar, move your mouse slightly and the menu will appear. The menu bar may disappear in full screen mode.
Join Audio
After joining the Zoom meeting, you will be prompted to join the room’s audio. Zoom allows audio participation through your computer’s internal speakers, a headset, or a phone line. The initial step of joining the audio by computer looks like this:
Click on Join With Computer Audio so you can listen in and use your mic.
If you experience audio problems after clicking on Join With Computer Audio, click the arrow next to the microphone icon in the bottom-left hand corner, and choose Test Speaker and Microphone.
If you need to change your audio/video input device, click the arrow next to the microphone/camera icon and select the appropriate device.
Mute/Unmute Mic
Click on the microphone icon on the bottom left corner of the Zoom window to mute/unmute your audio. The red line through the microphone icon indicates that it is muted.
Muting your microphone when not speaking is essential to prevent distracting background noises that may affect others. Keep your microphone muted while listening, and unmute only when you want to speak.
Click on the up arrow to the right of the mic icon to see more audio options. If you have multiple mics and speakers on your computer (e.g. if you are using a headset with mic on a laptop that already has built-in mic/speakers), make sure the correct mic and speaker have checks next to them to indicate they are being used. You can also run the Test Mic and Speakers wizard to check that you're using the correct mic and speakers.
Stop/Start Video
Click on the camera icon near the bottom left corner of the Zoom window to enable/disable your webcam. The red line through the camera icon indicates that your webcam is disabled.
If you have multiple webcams and want to switch between them, click on the up arrow to the right of the camera icon, and click on the name of the webcam you want to use.
If other participants tell you that your video and/or audio feed is freezing (usually as a result of a poor connection), close other programs and disable your camera in Zoom to free up bandwidth. This way, you can perhaps still see, hear, and speak though no one can see you.
Participant, Change Display Name, Raise Hand
Click on the Participant icon on the Zoom toolbar to open up the participant area.
To change your display name, mouse over your name on the participant area, click on the Rename button, type in the name you want to use, and click OK. If you don't see this option, the meeting host has not enabled participants to rename themselves.
Raising your hand alerts the instructor(s) or meeting moderator(s) that you want to use your mic to ask a question or make a comment. You can find the Raise Hand icon near the bottom left corner of the participant area. You'll be called on when it's time for you to unmute and speak. Please remember to lower your hand afterwards.
Screenshare
If you've been given permission to screenshare, you can initiate screen sharing by clicking on the green Share icon on the Zoom toolbar. The sharing window will pop up, and you can choose to share an entire screen (if you have multiple monitors, you can choose which screen you want to share), or share a particular window or app you have opened.
If you select to share your whole screen, be sure that private tabs like emails, etc. are closed.
If you are sharing audio and/or video, check the Share computer sound and Optimize for full screen video clip options.
Once you've made your selection, click on the blue Share button.
Once you are done screen sharing, click on the red Stop Share button.
Chat
Depending on the settings set by the meeting host or moderator, as a participant you may be able to chat with everyone publicly, chat with another person privately, chat with the host only, or chat with no one.
Click on the Chat icon on the Zoom toolbar to open up the chat area.
To send a message to everybody in the Zoom room, use the text box below ‘To: Everyone.’
To send a private message, click on Everyone so you can see a list of individual attendees in the meeting. Click on the name of the person you want to message. You can use Private Chat to communicate technical problems to a Learning Technologies team member or someone else who's supporting the event. Be careful that your private chats are not being sent out to everybody!
Once you've typed your message, and click Enter/Return on your keyboard to post it.
Reactions
Breakout Rooms
See Zoom Support's Participating in Breakout Rooms article.
Self-Select Breakout Rooms
Note: participation in self-selecting breakout rooms REQUIRES version 5.3 or newer of the Zoom desktop client or mobile app. Checkout the Desktop Client page to learn how to update your client.
Request Help
You can notify meeting host that you need help by clicking on the Ask for Help button, and then on the Invite Host button. The host will be notified that you need help and will join (or send other facilitator/moderator who can help) into your breakout room.
Leave Breakout Room
You can leave the breakout room by clicking on the Leave Room button on the bottom right of the Zoom window, and then on Leave Breakout Room button to join the main room. Be sure to not click on Leave Meeting, because if you do you will leave the meeting entirely and you'll have to rejoin.
