When we’re not facilitating events, we’re creating video content for tutorials on all aspects of Zoom.
We’ll put a few of these on YouTube for quick reference… tutorials for new Zoom users and “how to” videos on new and important features.
Most of our videos will be hosted on the Udemy course management system. Some of them will be free, others will have a nominal charge, depending on the complexity and depth of coverage for the topic. Here’s a quick breakdown of the content you can expect – coming this summer 2021!
Free Content on YouTube
Introduction: A quick look at the full line of video tutorials, so you’ll know where you are and how to get where you’re headed.
Special Bonus Module: Zoom Free vs Pro – how to save money when you upgrade. Save about $30 on the annual fee if you follow our instructions.
Step 1: Getting a free account. We always recommend that any Zoom user have a Zoom account. Most people will just need the free account – then you have access to many more Zoom features.
Step 2: Download and install the Zoom app. We’ll primarily cover Windows and iOS devices, with supplementary info on Mac and Android. It’s easy – not to worry!
Step 3: Settings. Okay, now it’s not quite as easy. There are hundreds of settings in Zoom, but we’ll walk you through the ones a new user needs, and then give you an overview of the rest, so you’ll know where to look later, if you need to set something. More detailed settings tutorials are covered in Level 2 content below.
Step 4: Attend meetings. This is the fun part! We’ll walk you through a few practice meetings that you can do on your own. No way to be embarrassed! We’ll also cover the difference between how you’ll attend a Zoom Meeting vs a Zoom Webinar.
Level 1 – Free Content on Udemy
Step 5: Share your screen. Screen sharing comes naturally to a lot of people, but some just don’t seem to get the hang of it. We’ll walk you through the process with simple examples that won’t confuse you. Then we’ll cover some advanced concepts — when you’re ready.
Step 6: Schedule your own meetings. Here’s where the real fun begins! Learn to schedule your own Zoom Meetings, and how to invite friends, family, coworkers, clients – anyone – to your own meeting, whenever you like. Pick a date, set a time, copy the invitation, and send to your attendees in an email. Yep, that simple.
Step 7: Host your meetings. So now you’re an expert at attending meetings… let’s put you in the driver’s seat to be an expert host! There are many options, but at this stage we’ll cover the basics, some security options, and commonly used features that every host should know. More exotic features will be covered in later modules.
Level 2: Settings and Security
This is Zoom’s nitty-gritty side. It’s not difficult a difficult journey, but you need a map and a guide. Did we mention there are hundreds of options? Which ones are important? We’ll tell you, and give you a guide to all the rest, should you really need to go there.
Level 3: More Features
We’re moving out of Novice Territory now, showing you some additional things you really should know about, if you’re really going to be a great Zoom host.
You’ll get in-depth details and practical examples of all variations of screen views: Full Screen and NOT Full Screen, Gallery View, Speaker View, and the latest “Immersive View” – fun to play with, but not very helpful.
Then we’ll cover all the details of Chat, Polls, Spotlighting (the opposite of gas lighting?), and all the options of the Participant View, plus how to interact with individual attendees’ video boxes to avoid spending so much time in the Participant View.
Level 4: Advanced Features
Now we’ll prepare you for Master Level Zoom Hosting! Here’s what we’ll cover:
- Branding your Zoom account with profile pictures, custom waiting room text and graphics, and other customizations that let your attendees know they’re dealing with a pro.
- Recording your sessions is a great way to create content for others to view long after your session is over. Done right, it doesn’t take much effort to grab a recording and upload the raw video to YouTube, Vimeo, or other video content providers. But if you want to make professional-looking content, we’ll show you the details of how to grab multiple video and audio sources for later editing. (See the Editing Zoom Video item below for more.)
- Breakout Rooms aren’t used very often, but they’re getting more exposure as hosts devise creative ways to use them. You’ll learn how to create simple Breakout Rooms on the fly, and how to pre-load Breakout Rooms in advance for more complex situations.
- Registration is a great way to gather information about your attendees up front. Sure, you can send out invites and login links and anyone (and everyone) can attend… but registration gives you a little more control over who can be there, and there’s even the possibility of charging for your session. We’ll show you how to use Zoom for most simple registration needs. (We recommend using Eventbrite for more complex and ongoing sessions; see Eventbrite Registration item below for more.)
Editing Zoom Video
In Level 4 you’ll learn about all the wonderful option for recording multiple video and audio tracks during your Meetings and Webinars. Editing them can be done in any of a variety of video editing tools, but our favorite is Adobe Premiere Pro. While not for the faint of heart, the serious Zoom Facilitator will want to have Premiere Pro skills – or something like it.
We won’t make you a movie creating expert here, but if you’re new to video editing, we’ll walk you through the process of getting started and getting familiar with the “editing workflow,” as Adobe likes to call it. After we get comfy with the basics, we’ll move on to specific skills for editing Zoom videos.
If you’ve already done some videos in Premiere Pro, you can bypass the basics (but you might learn a few things just by watching). But you’ll definitely want to watch the techniques that really help ease the editing burden when working with Zoom sources.
Eventbrite Registration
To round out your Zoom Facilitation skills, you’ll want to explore Eventbrite’s registration management system. It seems uniquely paired with Zoom, and has several integrations that makes the combination work well together. We’ll show you how to create one account for your Zoom Facilitation services, and create multiple “event host organizations” within Eventbrite to highlight and feature their events separately. (Be the “person behind the curtain” and let them shine!)
Eventbrite has ticket sales, custom questionnaires for registrants, Emails with customizations, and pre-event and post-event reports. We’ll guide you through the process by setting up a quick meeting for yourself and a few people, just to see how it all works.