8 TIPS TO USE ZOOM APP LIKE A PRO IN 2023

If you are new to working from home,

 you probably aren't familiar with Zoom, our pick for the best videoconferencing service. It also pleases other people: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, teams are shifting to remote work, resulting in millions of new Zoom users.

However, despite the fact that using Zoom is simple, you might not be aware of some of its most useful features, many of which are hidden in advanced setting menus. Wire cutter has been using Zoom on a daily basis for many years, and we have picked up a few tips along the way. Even if you are only using the free, basic version, here is everything you need to know to get the most out of the service.

Check the Touch up my appearance box in the Zoom video settings menu to beautify (or conceal) your face if you've just gotten out of bed and into a business meeting without coffee or makeup. It basically works like a soft-focus lens to blur skin tones and smooth out wrinkles, blemishes, and other small flaws.

A dirty little ploy is as follows: You can use a screenshot of yourself in a Zoom meeting as your profile picture if you'd rather not be seen at all and don't plan to speak in the meeting. You will always appear flawless and attentive in this manner.

We think it's a good idea to enable the option to always see a video preview before joining meetings and to set Zoom to disable your camera and microphone by default when joining meetings. You'll be able to spot spinach stains on your shirt this way.

Virtual Backgrounds, which are essentially green-screen technology for monotonous office meetings, are one of Zoom's coolest but least utilized features. You can either cosplay as George W. Bush or pretend to be on the moon. Need an illustration? Courtney Wilburn, the lead engineer for Wire cutter, is pictured here on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln.

a zoom call This technology cannot function without a powerful processor or a real green screen. Zoom cannot distinguish my face from the white wall behind me, even with the processing power of my 2019 MacBook Pro, which is powered by an Intel Core i5. However, it is glorious when it functions.

Silence desktop notifications to avoid embarrassment. Windows 10 comes with a built-in feature called Focus Assist that does exactly this. Simply select When I'm duplicating my display from the Focus Assist menu in Settings > System > On. It can also be manually toggled from the Action Center, which is located to the right of the bottom of the Windows 10 taskbar. To automate the process, Mac users need to use a third-party application. Muzzle, our favorite, simply activates the built-in Do Not Disturb mode of macOS whenever you start screen sharing so you don't forget. Examples of the kind of text messages and notifications from dating apps that make you want to weep can be found on the Muzzle website.)

Zoom's screen-sharing feature is extremely comprehensive, allowing you to share your entire desktop or specific apps. Screen sharing is more than just PowerPoint presentations. But did you know that it has a whiteboard built in? We've probably used it more as a delightfully low-tech way to play Friday-afternoon games like Pictionary and Hangman than for mapping out complex ideas or communicating visuals.

The majority of Zoom users are good about muting, but in large meetings, at least one person usually forgets to hit the mute button and broadcasts a private conversation, baby cries, or... something worse. screenshot of hangman game in Zoom

Many hosts are unaware that they have the ability to silence these erratic talkers. In the Schedule Meeting section of your Zoom account settings, toggle Mute participants upon entry to have everyone who joins the meeting muted by default. Additionally, if someone forgets to remain muted, you can silence them by clicking the mic icon next to them in Manage Participants in the app. You will probably use this feature a lot more than you think, hopefully saving your coworkers some embarrassment.

Muted attendees can, of course, unmute themselves, but there are other ways to avoid chaos at a large meeting. You can temporarily unmute yourself by pressing and holding the spacebar, similar to using a walkie-talkie, or you can open the Participants tab at the bottom of the Zoom window and press Raise Hand to be called on by the moderator.

Make use of Zoom's powerful scheduling feature. The built-in scheduling function of Zoom connects to iCal and Google Calendar, making meeting planning surprisingly simple. Some thoughtful options that other video conferencing services don't offer are available on the scheduling setup screen, such as the option to start the meeting with video on or off (for both the host and the participants), the type of audio sources to allow, and whether to use your Personal Meeting ID, which is a specific number for your own room, or a room number that is generated at random.

Keep unwanted guests out of meetings During the COVID epidemic, a troubling new trend in online meetings emerged as a result of the large number of workers and students switching to Zoom and other videoconferencing platforms: Zoom bombing.” It's similar to photobombing in that someone finds or guesses the URL of your meeting, enters your chat unannounced, and puts themselves in the picture. The outcomes can be, to put it mildly, upsetting.

The following is a condensed version of what you can do as a host to prevent this kind of harassment: Zoom has helpfully shared some tips in a Twitter thread:

Your meeting ID should not be shared with the public, and if you are holding a public meeting, you should not use your personal meeting ID (PMI); Instead, use a meeting ID that is generated at random, as this video demonstrates.

Utilize the sitting area component to guarantee that main individuals you know get into the visit.

Only those who are logged in to Zoom may attend meetings. You can even limit your meeting to people whose email addresses use a particular domain, such as your school's or company's, if you want to be even more stringent.

Keep attendees from sharing their screens without your permission.

Lock meetings that have already begun to stop new participants from joining in the middle of the process.

Remember that hosts have the authority to expel anyone from the meeting at any time and can and should mute erratic talkers if necessary if someone still behaves inappropriately during a call.

Last but not least, please silence yourself. Your host can do this for you, but come on: Unless it is your turn to speak, be a responsible adult and press the mute button. You won't have to worry about embarrassing yourself, and no one else will have to hear you eat your salad.