How to use Zoom if you haven’t before

For the time being – many of our meetings and activities are happening online

To connect you need the meeting ID and the password. Go to the home page and click on the next First Friday meeting (or whatever event you are wanting to join) to find this information. NOTE that you need to be registered with Zoom (it’s free) and you need to be logged in before you can join the meeting. Why? Because there have been numerous ‘zoom bombings’ where highly unwanted and very disturbing material has been posted to a Zoom conversation by bad people. One way to protect us from this is by asking you to log on before joining the meeting.

When we are listening to others your microphone will be muted by us. That’s to keep stray noises you don’t even know you are making from disrupting everyone’s ability to hear properly. If we are in conversation then your microphones will be live. That’s controlled by us.

A little tutorial…

If you’re not used to using Zoom here’s a teeny tutorial. Once you’re set up it’s very easy to use – I promise.

You will need to download the Zoom app – you can use this on a computer, a laptop, a tablet or a smart phone OR you can simply go to your usual browser and go to zoom.us/join  Note that as of May 31 all Zoom apps will need to be updated to version 5 or later.

If you get at all lost, there is an excellent guide on the Zoom website.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, just start it up and when prompted ask to join the meeting.  To allay security concerns, you will find the code for the current First Friday by going to the front page and then finding the next First Friday listing. 

You don’t need a password, you don’t need to book ahead, you can just come and join and you don’t have to stay the whole time – drop in and out as you wish. There is a limit of 100 people per meeting, but I don’t really think that will be a problem for a First Friday gathering.

The only thing we would ask is that you try to join from a reasonably quiet space – otherwise the background noise makes the call impossible for all.

Want to say something and need to catch the host’s attention?

Depending on the number of people attending the host (the person who has called the meeting) may not be able to see everyone on screen. So if you’re politely raising your hand or frantically waving your arms because you want to speak, there’s a way to make sure the host knows you want to speak.

Along the bottom of the Zoom window, click on the ‘Participants’ icon. That will open up a window on the right of your screen with a list of all participants. 

In that window, on the bottom at the right hand side click the button marked ‘Raise Hand‘. If it’s not visible there click on the ‘More’ button which should then give you the option to raise your hand. This sends a little message to host to let them know you are waiting to speak.

Once last tip…

When you’ve joined the meeting, you will see a button on the top right hand of the main window that says ‘gallery’. Click this and you’ll be able to see everyone who is in the meeting.

We can’t necessarily help you with setup, but there’s lots of help on the Zoom website.

If you’re feeling shy…

If you’re feeling shy about being on camera, you can always switch the video off. That way people will be able to hear you but not see you.