Skip to main content

Video Conferencing Tips and Tricks

Participant Tips

Logging in to Zoom

  • For the best participant experience, navigate to zoom.iu.edu
  • Log in using your IU credentials.
  • Click Join a Meeting, then type or paste in the meeting ID.

Customize your personal participant experience. This does not impact other participants.

  • View up to 49 participants using Gallery View. This displays tiled thumbnails of participant videos.
  • To display the person speaking in a large window, with the other participants in thumbnails, choose the Speaker View option.
  • Engage with the meeting by typing in the chat.

Host Tips

Learn about managing participants in a meeting.

Consider the recent UITS recommendations to prevent Zoombombing when setting up meetings, and also be aware of options for handling a disruption mid-meeting. If you are planning to post about or share the link to a Zoom meeting on a public resource such as a webpage that is accessible by the public, it is recommended that you generate a unique meeting ID for all sessions of a meeting series to reduce the likelihood of unwelcome or disruptive participants joining your event.

You have the option to mute individuals as needed or mute or unmute all participants from the Manage Participants panel.

Create and store recordings of Zoom meetings. Only the host can record a Zoom meeting by default, but a host can also adjust settings so that specific users can record the meeting under the Manage Participants panel.

Unlike “leaving” a meeting, where the meeting can continue without you, hosts have the option to “End the Meeting for All” at the end of a meeting to close the meeting for all participants. 

Best Practices for Creating Zoom Rooms

Create a new room or “schedule a new meeting” for each recurring meeting.

  • Select the recurring meeting option, with no fixed time
  • Generate a new meeting ID for each recurring meeting (don’t use your personal ID). This allows for some meeting options and settings to be tailored to this Zoom room.
  • If you are planning to post about or share the link to a Zoom meeting on a public resource such as a webpage that is accessible by the public, it is recommended that you generate a unique meeting ID for all sessions of a meeting series to reduce the likelihood of unwelcome or disruptive participants joining your event.

Options for scheduling a Zoom meeting through Outlook.

  • Use the Zoom for Outlook Add-In 
  • Copy the invitation or meeting details into the invitation’s body (if not using the plugin). Be sure to include the URL in the body, not just the location, so that people can easily click it to open the room.