You know the whole world has been turned upside down when Zoom is the most talked about subject of the virtual water cooler.
The entire existence of our work communication load falls on the shoulders of this video conferencing giant until the next little bit of forever.
Have you assessed the level of your Zoom game lately? Take 5 minutes and tap into the 8 Zoom hacks below.
Because let me tell you, you can’t put it off for another minute – the competition out there is stiff (see: Boss turns herself into a potato).
- BACKGROUNDS – HOW TO GET THEM AND HOW TO USE THEM Taking a meeting from the sandy shores of Tahiti today, are you? Yes, yes you are.
Once you’ve downloaded Zoom to your PC or Mac, go to Settings and then Virtual Backgrounds. You can choose from several options or upload your own.
See the full guide here. Hint: Upgrade your virtual home alongside Zoom with these West Elm zoom backgrounds. - DRESS FOR ZOOM SUCCESS To pant or not to pant? This GMA reporter definitely has the answer. And what kind of pants? Yoga pants? Slacks? (Oh God, please no buttons…)
According to Houston wardrobe stylist Ashley Kahn, the accessories make the biggest bang. “More eyes are on us than ever before with business meetings now being done virtually, which means looking your best has never been more crucial. Dressing tip: don’t skip out on the accessories. With zoom calls being up close and personal, earrings and a necklace will have you looking like you’ve got it all together, even during this tough time when maybe you don’t.”
Follow Ashley’s best fashion tips and tricks at @ashleykahnstyle - CONVERSATION OPENERS FOR THE AWKWARD START TO THOSE WORK MEETINGS Uhhhh, hi? Hello? Can you hear me? Oh no, you go. So, sorry. Yea no, you go.
Could getting on a Zoom meeting be any more awkward? Once you get through the rigamarole of getting Jeff off mute, go to one of these interesting ice breakers to lighten the mood.- What Netflix show are you currently binging?
- Two truths and a lie
- Funny kids/parents in quarantine story
- Self-care routine
- What is the first bar you will visit once open?
- Tips for ending the day relaxed?
- What new habits have you started during quarantine?
- A simple check-on on how everyone is feeling can never lose.
- ZOOM WAITING ROOM Do your Zoom calls need a little more control on who’s entering when? Well, take it back! The virtual waiting room is exactly what you’ve been missing. New meeting participants arrive to the virtual waiting room and enter into the main conversation when the meeting leader allows them to.
See the full guide here. - MULTI-SCREEN SHARE This is an awesome feature to use for project work, especially when comparing documents or graphics. To enable, follow the full guide here.
- TOUCH UP YOUR APPEARANCE This is my favorite hack. I mean, I’m happy to admit that this whole quarantine thing is making me look as though I’ve been through the wringer (which I absolutely have), but I don’t need people to see all that damage. And especially not on a work call.
Simply open your Zoom on your PC or desktop, go to Settings, Video and check the checkbox under “By Video” labeled Touch Up My Appearance and Bam! You are now Kim K. - EASY UNMUTE BUTTON Look, we all know your kids/dog/cat/dishwasher/pet ferret are in your house making a racket. WFH has been a new experience for most of us – including the other members of our household.
Rather than hiding in the closet for your meetings, use the easy unmute hack. Leave your video on mute and simply unmute by holding down the spacebar. Lift off the spacebar and the video returns to mute.
To confirm this setting on your Zoom account, open Zoom on your desktop, go to Settings and then Keyboard Shortcuts. - CREATE NAME TAGS In this uncertain time of social distancing, WFH and quarantining, more and more of us are finding ourselves on a zoom call with folks we have never met. Happy hour zooms? Yes! Game night zooms? Totally. Interactive panels? Always.
By turning on the nametag function, each person’s name will be displayed on their video stream and you no longer have to get their attention by yelling, “Hey girl in the weird hat” (I mean, who is even wearing hats during quarantine??)
To see each participants’ name, go to Settings, Meetings and Always display participants names.
Now off you go my child, into the world of the pristine Zoom call. I wish good tidings on your travels.