10 Zoom Etiquette Rules You Should Know

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the way we communicate and work. What was already a rising trend before the pandemic — remote work and digital nomadism — became mainstream once working from home was encouraged wherever possible. It’s no longer a trend; working from home and video conferencing are now part of the norm.

While working remotely, it’s important to learn how to be a good Zoom host and participant in order to use the platform to its full potential. Especially given some of the limitations and pitfalls of digital communication, when you put in extra effort to communicate well, you can be sure you’ll leave a good impression. Here are some tips for meeting hosts and participants to help make Zoom meetings go well.

Zoom Etiquette for Meeting Hosts

1-Privacy First

Think about the meeting’s agenda and the topics that will be covered. If you’re going to discuss sensitive company information and ideas that you don’t want the general public to access, you should set up appropriate privacy controls, which can be as simple as setting a password. You should only distribute your Zoom link to the people you want in the meeting.

2-Use Video Whenever Possible

Unless a weak internet connection makes it impossible to present, video should be used as part of the meeting. A significant part of communication is nonverbal, and with a clear connection, your message will come across more accurately than if you were presenting with just your voice. That said, in many meetings, some participants only turn on their camera while speaking, or prefer not to turn it on at all. It’s good to set expectations during the invitation. It’s also important to know when to switch to audio only, if video quality alone is straining the meeting.

3-Frame Your Camera Shot Properly

Make sure your background is appropriate for your work, and that the lighting gently illuminates your face (not like putting a flashlight under your chin) at an angle that won’t cast shadows on your face. It’s generally best for your head and shoulders to be in the shot, with a bit of space left between the top of your head and the top of the screen. Position yourself so you can look as directly into the camera as possible. Try to set up your camera at eye level with it, not looking down from above or up from below.

And of course, always make sure whether your camera or microphone is on.

Shall we have a little smile with two Zoom fail videos?

4-Only Invite People Who Absolutely Need to Be There

Every additional person brings a greater chance of technical difficulties or distractions. Only invite people who absolutely need to be there. This will cause as little wasted time as possible.

5-Introduce People Who Don’t Know Each Other

Introducing people to each other digitally, if they haven’t met before, is good Zoom etiquette.
Something like, “Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Ahmet, one of our project partners.”

6-Make Eye Contact When Needed

An important aspect of video conference etiquette is making eye contact with other meeting participants. This can be done by looking directly into the webcam. This way, you give the impression that you care about the meeting agenda and the participants. Eye contact is also the preferred way to hold listeners’ attention on you.

7-Manage Your Meeting

As the meeting host, let your group know the meeting’s agenda and whether interruptions can be accommodated, or whether questions and comments should be saved for later. While setting the pace, you should be as confident as appropriate for the conversation. Depending on the nature of your meeting and the participants involved, you may even control muting or unmuting participants. Even though it can sometimes be very hard to manage, and connection speeds can make it a potential problem to talk over each other, do your best to stay calm and friendly in your tone while managing the meeting.

8-Don’t Eat or Drink

It can be off-putting for people to see or hear you eating or drinking. The one exception is water or coffee, especially if you have a packed schedule. However, if you do choose to sip a drink, definitely try to be quieter about it. It’s a good time to mute your microphone.

9-Take Deliberate Pauses

People in your meeting are likely to have different locations and connection speeds, which makes quick back-and-forth conversation a bit harder. Make sure to take a deliberate, slightly longer pause between sentences to give other people a chance to speak.

10-Be the Last to Leave the Meeting

If you’re the meeting host, it’s certainly best practice to be the last one to leave the meeting. This gives anyone who might have questions the chance to approach you once the session is over.