Zoom Meetings - 10 tips and tricks you should know about - Android

Zoom is all the rage these days. It allows people to stay connected with their colleagues while working from home due to the COVID-19 virus. We’ve already talked about exactly what Zoom is and how much it costs, how to set it up, and how it compares with the competition. In this post, we’ll talk about various tips and tricks you need to know about to take your Zoom game to the next level. Let’s get started.

1. Use a virtual background

If you don’t want your colleagues to see the inside of your apartment during a Zoom meeting, consider using a virtual background. You can select an image or video and set it as your background with just a few clicks. The feature isn’t perfect and works best if you have a green screen, but it’s still surprisingly good. I had a little fun with it and made a screenshot (above) so you can see what it looks like in action. You’re welcome!

We suggest that you set a virtual background before joining a meeting. That way, you won’t have to play around with the controls once the meeting starts.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open the Zoom app on your PC.
2. Click the gear icon under your profile image.
3. Select the “Virtual Background” option.
4. Select an image/video or upload your own.

2. Make yourself prettier

Zoom

Want to look your best for that important meeting? Zoom has you covered. The tool offers a feature called Touch Up My Appearance, which is basically a filter that smooths out your skin. It’s not very aggressive, so the changes it makes aren’t super noticeable. But that’s a good thing if you ask me because your face still looks natural after applying the filter.

You can try it out as well as set it up before joining a meeting. It only takes a few clicks to get the job done.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open the Zoom app on your PC.
2. Click the gear icon under your profile image.
3. Select the “Video” option.
4. Check the box next to “Touch up my appearance.”

3. Mute someone’s mic

There’s always that one guy who gets a call and answers it during a Zoom meeting or has children screaming in the background. Fortunately, you can turn off a participant’s mic with just a few clicks and get rid of the excessive noise that’s bothering others.

However, keep in mind that only a host of a meeting can use this feature. Participants don’t have this option, but they do have the ability to turn off their own mics.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Click the “Manage participants” button in the taskbar.
2. Hover your mouse over a participant’s name.
3. Click the “Mute” button that shows up.

4. Get some feedback

Zoom has a built-in polling feature that comes in handy for voting on business-related decisions that have to be made or just getting some feedback on a given topic. You should see the polling option in the taskbar during a meeting, but if you don’t, you’ll have to enable it first. Head to Account management > Account Settings and then toggle on the “Polling option” under the “Meeting” tab.”

Polls can be conducted anonymously, so no one will know your stance on a certain topic. But keep in mind that only the host of a meeting can make one and share it among the participants.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Head to the “Meetings” page and click on a scheduled meeting.
2. Find the “Poll” option and click on “Add” to create a new poll.
3. Click the “Polling” option in the taskbar during a meeting.
4. Select a poll and click “Launch Poll.”

5. Turn on gallery view

Zoom
Zoom’s default video layout is called “Active Speaker” and shows the person speaking in the main (large) window, while the rest of the participants are listed above it.

We recommend changing the layout to “Gallery View” so that you’ll be able to see all the participants on the page at the same time. Zoom will show you a maximum of 49 participants on a single page. If there are more people in a meeting, you can click on the arrow to move to the next page.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Click the “Gallery View” option in the top-right corner of the screen.
2. Click the arrow on the left/right side to move between pages if there are more than 49 participants in a meeting.

6. Hide non-video participants

Okay, so you’ve enabled Gallery View. Great job! But the problem is that a lot of the people in the meeting have their cameras turned off, so all you see is a bunch of black windows containing names. In this case, you can declutter your screen by removing all the participants who don’t have their cameras turned on.

If you like this option and want to use it, we suggest enabling it by default before heading into a meeting.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open the Zoom app on your PC.
2. Click the gear icon under your profile image.
3. Click the “Video” option.
4. Check the box next to “Hide non-video participants.”

7. Only share a part of your screen

When giving a presentation with Zoom, you often have to share your screen. The problem with this is that the people in the meeting will see the apps you have installed on your PC, the tabs you have open in your browser, as well as other data that you may not want to share. Luckily, Zoom has a solution.

You can choose to only share a part of the screen, which provides you with a bit more privacy. For example, you can share the content in your browser but cut out the bottom and upper parts that reveal the apps in your taskbar and the tabs you have open.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Click the “Share Screen” option in the taskbar.
2. Click the “Advanced” tab up top.
3. Select the “Portion of Screen” option and click “Share.”
4. Resize the green window to your liking.

8. Turn off the camera/mic before a meeting

Do you want your mic and camera to be turned on or off by default when you join a meeting? This is something we recommend you set beforehand so you don’t have to play around with the controls as soon as a meeting starts.

I keep mine off and only turn them on when needed. This prevents any possible background noise coming from my end because of my neighbors moving their laws or cars passing by.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Open the Zoom app on your PC.
2. Click the gear icon under your profile image.
3. Click the “Video” option.
4. Check the box next to “Turn off my video when joining meetings.”
5. Click the “Audio” option.
6. Check the box next to “Mute my microphone when joining a meeting.”

9. Raise your hand

Whenever you want to speak, you can signal it to the host by raising your hand virtually. The host will then give you the floor to talk or ask questions.

This is a great feature that prevents multiple people from talking at once. It’s simple to use as well, as you can see in the instructions below.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Select the “Participants” option from the taskbar.
2. Click the “Raise Hand” option at the bottom of the section that shows up.
3. Wait for the host to give you the floor.

10. Record a meeting to the cloud

When recording a meeting, we advise you to do it to the cloud. What that means is that the recording will be saved to Zoom’s server, after which you’ll be able to view it under the “Recordings” tab in your account. Just keep in mind that this feature isn’t available on free accounts.

Recording to the cloud is a good idea because you can share a recording with ease, allowing employees who missed a meeting to check it out later on. If you save a recording to your device, you’ll first have to upload it to Drive or a similar service before you’ll be able to share it.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Click the “Record” button in the taskbar.
2. Select the “Record to the cloud” option.
3. Click “Stop recording” at the end of a meeting.
4. Visit the “Recordings” page to see and share a recording.

Editor's Pick

Not sold on Zoom? Here are the 8 best Zoom alternatives to consider.

Zoom is one of the best and most popular video conferencing platforms out there. It’s used to host one-on-one or group meetings as well as webinars. However, it’s not the only one of its kind, …

These are just a few tips and tricks we recommend you use to level up your Zoom game. Which ones would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments!