

(Updated: June 11, 2020 @ 4PM)
The Next Meeting: July 12, 2020 @ 3-5 PM
RSVP is not required for members.
Preparation:
- Sign up — if you don’t have a Zoom account, please sign up here first.
- If this is your first time and you haven’t installed the Zoom client, you will be prompted to download and install it.
You can familiarize yourself with Zoom at https://zoom.us/test. - Get a password for the meeting. We will send one a few days before the meeting.
Join a meeting:
- Open the Zoom client.
- Enter the meeting ID number and your display name. (If you have a role, please put the role’s name before your name. ex. “GE Your Name”)
- Enter the password that is provided from StoryMasters. If you forget or need one, please email Tina or Miyo prior to the meeting. Once the meeting starts, we may not be able to check our emails. Please make sure to have the right password before the meeting.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362193-Joining-a-Meeting
Etiquette:
Virtual meetings are similar to in-person meetings.
- Be prepared — don’t try to figure things out at the last minute. Check the “How to” section on this page and solve any technical issues beforehand.
- Adjust lighting — no bright light behind you. Close a blind if there is a window behind you.
- Test audio and video.
- Learn how to mute and unmute.
- Learn how to use Do Not Disturb mode.
- Join the meeting at least five minutes before the meeting.
- Enable your video if you can. We would love to see your smiles!
- Be fully present — don’t multitask. Somebody is watching you!
- Remain mute when you are not speaking. (Don’t feel obligated to unmute and clap hands.)
- Do not share the password without our permission. Although we would love to welcome everybody with open arms, we do not want to be disrupted by Zoom-bombers. Our goal is to create a safe environment for our storytelling community.
- Please keep your Zoom client up to date in order to protect your and others’ personal information.
Disclaimer:
Please do know that your screen will NOT be recorded unless you are a speaker. We record our speakers when they tell their stories. Our videographer pins the speaker’s screen so that nobody else’s screen is recorded. Before recording starts, you will be notified (If you don’t, it means that you’re not using the latest client). Please do not leave the meeting. Click “Continue” and enjoy the storytime!
When you are…
Toastmaster
Remember, you are the MC of the party. Lead by example!
Before the meeting
- Share the agenda with members.
- Join the meeting at least 15 minutes in advance, engage with attendees, and set the tone.
- Check in with speakers and functionaries. Recruit a replacement if required.
During the meeting
- Unmute when you are introduced by President.
- Explain the meeting procedure.
- Introduce functionaries (General Evaluator, Word Master, Timer).
- Ask everybody to mute.
- Mute yourself after you introduce a speaker.
- After a speaker finishes, unmute and remind everybody to write comments.
After the last speech
- Announce the break time and tell everybody what time they need to come back.
General Evaluator
Before the meeting
- Communicate with Toastmaster and be aware of the changes — during the meeting evaluation, you may want to acknowledge those who stepped up at the last minute, those who found their replacement when they couldn’t fulfill their roles, and those who were responsive and accountable.
- Join the meeting at least 15 minutes in advance and observe.
- Check in with evaluators, share the evaluation form, and make sure that they know their duties.
During the meeting
- Take notes on everything that does or does not occur.
- Reconvene the meeting after a break.
- Explain the procedure briefly.
Round robin evaluations — those who want to share their feedback, they raise their hands (literally!), unmute themselves when they’re called, and mute again when they finish. - Conduct the evaluation portion.
At the conclusion of the evaluation
- Functionaries’ reports (Timer and Word Master)
- Give a 2-3 minute meeting evaluations, using the notes.
- Return the control to President.
Speaker
Before the meeting
- Preparation, preparation, preparation — make sure that the camera setting, lighting, and sound work properly.
- Send your speech information (length, manual/project, introduction) to TM at least a week before the meeting.
- Find Timer and pin video. If you don’t want to pin video, make sure to have Timer’s video on the screen before you speak. Please note that network slowness and Internet connection may affect the timing. To get the accurate time, we suggest opening the Speech Timer for TM, have it on your own screen in a separate window, and time yourself, too.
When you speak
- Unmute.
- Look at the camera lens instead of the screen. When you look at the screen (the gallery view), your eye contact is off for your audience.
- Mute yourself when you finish.
At the conclusion of the evaluation
- Save comments if you want to keep them.
Evaluator
Before the meeting
- Learn the speech manual/project, objectives, and any area to observe.
- Print out the evaluation form.
- Find Timer and pin video. If you don’t want to pin video, make sure to have Timer’s video on the screen before you speak. Please note that network slowness and Internet connection may affect the timing. To get the accurate time, we suggest opening the Speech Timer for TM, have it on your own screen in a separate window, and time yourself, too.
After the meeting
- Send the evaluation form to the speaker.
Timer
There are a couple of options. Please pick what works for you. Whichever you decide to use, practice and get familiar beforehand.
Option 2 may not be available depending on the device. If neither of them works, there is a last resort. Use your voice.
Before the meeting
- When you join the meeting, put “Timer” before your name so that everybody can find you easily.
- Get the speeches’ length and timing rule.
- Get the meeting agenda and review it.
- Prepare a timer (ex. stopwatch, phone).
- Prepare timing cards:
- Option 1: Green/yellow/red paper or folder that you can use as timing cards. Or you can use an app or a website on your mobile and show your mobile screen to your computer camera.
- Option 2: Download timing images and upload them to the virtual background to your Zoom account if you haven’t done so.
- Enable your video.
During the meeting
- Be aware of the next timing rule always.
- Show the timing card:
- Option 1: Show the timing card to the computer screen and keep holding it.
- Option 2: Switch the virtual background image.
- When a speaker reaches the max time, unmute and say time (ex. “seven”). If you can make a subtle sound with a bell or your phone, that’s fine, too.
- When a speaker finishes, record the time.
- Give the timing report at the end of the meeting.
Videographer
Local recording is not supported on iOS and Android.
Before the meeting
- Make sure your computer has enough capacity to store videos.
Before recording
- Pin the speaker’s video who will speak next.
After the meeting
- Zoom will convert the recording so you can access the files. Once the conversion process is complete, the folder containing the recording files will open.
- By default, a meeting folder will be created at:
- PC: C:\Users\User Name\Documents\Zoom
- Mac: /Users/User Name/Documents/Zoom
- Upload mp4 files to YouTube.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362473-Local-Recording
Adjust lighting
- Ideally, natural light is shaded, and only controlled or non-natural lighting is being used within the room.
- Indirect light is recommended in a video conference to avoid washing out of images with high luminance.
Considerations:
- Black out shades or diffusion blinds to reduce natural light
- Avoid reflective blinds, wall and table surfaces
- Dark table finishes and warmer wood grains are preferable.
- Avoid glass tables and walls or etch glass to reduce glare.
- 20-60% reflectance on tables and chairs.
- 40-60% reflectance on walls.
- Avoid small, intricate graphic patterns.
- Logos should have dull, non-reflective surfaces.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/360028862512-Lighting-Concepts
Change your name
- Click “Participants” in the control bar at the bottom.
- Hover over your name and click “Rename.”
- Enter your name and click “Rename.”
Change the view layout
Active speaker (Speaker view) is the default video layout. It will switch the large video window between who is speaking.
Click the view switch button in the upper right corner of your Zoom window to change the layout.
With the video gallery, you will see multiple participants at a time. There is an arrow to scroll through the remaining participants.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362323-How-Do-I-Change-The-Video-Layout-
Check audio
- Option 1
Check the settings through the test site, https://zoom.us/test. - Option 2
- Open your Zoom client
- Click Settings (the gear icon on the upper right or the menu — zoom.us -> Preferences)
- Select “Audio”
- Click “Test Speaker”
- Click “Test Mic”
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362283-Testing-computer-or-device-audio
Check video
- Option 1
Check the settings through the test site, https://zoom.us/test. - Option 2
- Open your Zoom client
- Click Settings (the gear icon on the upper right or the menu — zoom.us -> Preferences)
- Select “Video”
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362313-How-Do-I-Test-My-Video-
Enable/disable sound and video
The control buttons appear at the bottom of your screen if you’re not currently screen sharing.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/200941109-Attendee-Controls-in-a-Meeting
Enable Do Not Disturb mode
Windows
- Right click on the notification icon on the taskbar.
- Select Focus assist and set it to ‘Alarms only’
Mac
- Hold down the ‘option’ key and click the notification center icon. You will see the icon grey out, and then you’re in Do Not Disturb mode.
Android
- Swipe down to show your notifications and tap an icon that looks like this in the row at the top:
iOS
- Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch Control Center.
- Tap the Do Not Disturb button (It looks like a crescent moon)
Chromebook
- Click the notifications tray to show your most recent notifications
- Click the Do Not Disturb icon at the bottom of the notifications panel
Fix audio. I can't hear anything!
Check your audio settings by clicking on the ^ next to the microphone icon in the bottom left corner of the Zoom window. If you can play audio on your computer (this is the recommended option), select Join Audio by Computer.
Pin video
If you want to make somebody visible all the time, you need to pin the person’s screen. Otherwise, you see an active speaker and random audience.
Please note that if you record locally to your computer, It will only record the pinned video.
- On your screen, find the person.
- Hover over the person’s video and click …
- From the menu, choose Pin Video.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362743-Pin-a-Video
Save in-meeting chat
You can save in-meeting chat to your computer. If you save the chat locally to your computer, it will save any chats that you can see — those sent directly to you and those sent to everyone in the meeting or webinar.
- Click on Chat.
- At the bottom of the chat window, Click on Save Chat.
- This will save your chat to your local recording location. The default is your Documents folder > Zoom > Folder with meeting name, date and time.
Reference: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/115004792763-Saving-In-Meeting-Chat