Zoom Meetup Guidelines

Here are some guidelines and recommendations for hosting a virtual meetup on Zoom.

These guidelines are primarily for presentation-style meetups. If you’re hosting a help-style meetup, you’ll probably want to change some settings, such as not muting participants on entry.

If you’re the event host:

Before the meeting:

  • If you’re creating the event in Meetup:
    • Choose to only show link for people who RSVP (to prevent Zoombombing)
    • If you don’t have a paid Zoom account, please contact Doug Yuen to create the event in Zoom without a time limit.
    • If you’re duplicating an existing Meetup event, make sure to change the title, description, Zoom link, and date, and check to make sure the time and co-host(s) are correct.
  • Recommended settings if you’re creating the event in Zoom:
    • Zoom Preferences (in-app):
      • Recording tab:
      • Check “Optimize for 3rd party video editor”
      • Check “Record video during screen sharing”
    • Zoom Advanced Settings (on website):
      • Security:
        • Select “Require a passcode when scheduling new meetings”
        • Select “Embed passcode in invite link for one-click join”
        • Select “Require passcode for participants joining by phone”
      • In Meeting (Basic):
        • Select “Auto saving chats”
        • De-select “Sound notification when someone joins or leaves”
        • De-select “Feedback to Zoom”
        • Select “Co-host”
        • Select “Screen sharing” and select “Host Only” for both options
        • De-select “Annotation”
        • De-select “Whiteboard”
        • De-select “Remote control”
      • In Meeting (Advanced):
        • Select “Show a ‘Join from your browser’ link”
    • Zoom Event Settings:
      • Under Security, set a passcode and uncheck “Waiting Room”
      • Under Video, set participants’ video to off
      • Under Audio, set audio to telephone and computer audio
      • Under Advanced Options, uncheck “Enable join before host”
      • Under Advanced Options, check “Mute participants upon entry”

During the meeting:

  • Assign a co-host to moderate questions and other participants (in Participants panel)
  • Start recording, ask co-host to record as a backup (local recording recommended)
  • Things to tell attendees:
    • On the bottom of the screen, there are mute, video, participants, chat, and reactions buttons
    • Screen sharing, audio, and video are off by default (provided the host changed these settings)
    • If you have a question for the speaker, please raise your hand by going to the Reactions panel (on older versions of Zoom, it’s in the Participants panel)
    • If you can’t find it, please wait for the speaker to break for questions instead of interrupting
    • At the breaks, the moderator will call on whoever has their hand raised
    • Use the chat to introduce yourself or for questions for people other than the speaker
    • The speaker will not see or hear the questions in the chat
    • Please mute yourself when you’re not talking
    • We’ll be recording this, and the recording will be in the Meetup event comments after
    • If there’s time after, we’ll open up for general questions and discussion
    • Check out the Portland WordPress Slack and Meetup group
    • We have a monthly presentation meetup (usually) on the first Monday of the month
    • We have a twice monthly help meetup hosted by David Schargel on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month
    • Contact us if you’re interested in speaking (with a strong preference for local speakers)

If you’re the speaker:

Before the meeting:

  • Please see https://pdxwp.com/speak/ for our general guidelines and advice for speakers
  • Try to arrive at least 10 minutes early
  • Pause or turn off your desktop notifications
  • Change your display resolution if it’s too large
  • Make sure text on slides or websites is readable

During the meeting:

  • Begin recording after announcements and introductions, when you’re ready to start (recommended: “Record on this Computer” instead of “Record to the cloud”)
  • You probably want to use the “active window” option when screen sharing, as opposed to the “desktop” option, which shows your entire screen
  • If you use the “desktop” option, try to maximize your window so the screen share is more focused and doesn’t include extraneous items such as menu bars and other windows in the background
  • Remember to take frequent breaks during your presentation to ask the audience for questions

After the meeting:

  • Upload your slides (if applicable) to your website, unless they are already available on the cloud
  • Process your video (at the very least, trim the beginning and end and any sensitive information that may have inadvertently been shared) and upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, or your host of choice
  • Post links to your slides (if applicable) and your recording in the Meetup event comments, preferably within a couple of days