Connect to your people – Virtually!
Webinars, video chat, and “live” are everywhere and more and more they are an amazing resource for everyone. Have you tried it?
This allows the world to be connected in a magical way. We have recently seen how resilient we are and how we have the resources to continue to stay connected.
Video conferencing, Facetime, webchat, Zoom, whatever we call it has been an amazing resource. This is a technology that is accessible to almost everyone who has access to a computer with a webcam or a smart device. We weren’t born knowing how to use these tools, but we can learn.
What you need to join in
- A computer with a webcam and microphone or a smart device (phone, tablet)
- Reliable Internet
- A video conferencing platform: Here are a few options
- Facetime – Super easy and comes with MAC products. Must be MAC/Apple people to play
- Google Hangouts – Free to anyone who has a Gmail address
- Skype/Teams (or whatever they are calling it these days.) – For anyone with a Microsoft account.
- Zoom – Currently my favorite anyone can sign up for a free account using their preferred email address.
Host a meeting or join a meeting
Once you have gathered all your equipment and chosen your platform take a few minutes to set yourself up.
The strategies I am sharing with you will work for most platforms. For this blog I will be talking primarily about Zoom because it is my favorite.
Step 1: Go set up your www.zoom.us account.
Zoom has tons of “how-to” instructions.
All you need is an email address, Google account, or Facebook account. When you click the “sign up, it’s free” button they will walk you through the setup process.
If you would like more detailed instructions you can check out this link on the Zoom Website: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/categories/200101697
When you set up your account you will be assigned a meeting ID number. This number will be embedded into the log in link created when you schedule a meeting or sent out a “Zoom invitation”.
It’s like a telephone number, but for video calls.
NOTE:
Depending on the settings in your account, this number can be set to stay the same or it can change with each meeting you schedule.
Pay attention and make sure the “invitation” number you sent out and “meeting” number match when you start your meeting.
Step 2: Give it a try. (You can practice some things alone)
You are not going to break it or do it wrong.
For most of you, just going through the process will get you connected and ready to meet.
You will be able to:
-
Schedule/Host a meeting – Send out an invitation
This invitation will include a link that will contain your meeting ID number. When your people click on it Zoom (or other platform) will move them through the process of signing in.
-
Join a meeting
When you receive an invitation you can “get on” by clicking the link and going through the process or you can enter the Meeting ID number into the Join meeting box.
-
Start a meeting in-the-moment
When you start a meeting anyone who has your Meeting ID number can join you. There are ways to make your meeting “Private” and block people from joining, but we can talk about that later.
Troubleshooting
Any time you try something new there will be things that can go wrong. In video conferencing, you have a few moving pieces that can give you challenges.
Your internet – You need a stable internet connection for this to work. If you have internet troubles you can:
- Reboot your router
- Reboot your computer
- Tether to your phone (if on your computer)
- Connect your phone to WiFi (if on your phone)
Your Smart device – Devices like smartphones and tablets are often more trouble-free than computers, but also limited in what they can do. Here are a few troubleshooting steps:
- Confirm your camera is working by taking a selfie
- Confirm your audio by making a call
- Reboot your device
- Uninstall and reinstall the Zoom (or other conferencing) app
Your Computer Video – You need a video cam to make this work. Most laptop computers come with one. Your desktop will need an external webcam plugged in. Here are things you can try if it doesn’t “just” work:
- In the lower-left corner of your Zoom window is the controls for Video. You can stop and start Video from the video icon and to the right look for the ^ symbol for camera options and settings. It will tell you which web camera you are using.
- Search your computer for camera settings to find clues about what could be wrong.
- Reboot your computer.
- Internet Search: Privacy settings on webcam [Windows 10] [Apple]
- Internet Search: Update webcam drivers [Windows 10] [Apple]
Your Computer Audio – You need a microphone for a Video chat. Laptops come with one and you will need one to plug into a desktop. Here are things you can try if it doesn’t “just” work:
- In the lower-left corner of your Zoom window is the controls for Audio (See the microphone symbol) look to the right for the ^ symbol for audio options and settings. It will tell you which microphone you are using.
- Search your computer for audio or microphone settings to find clues about what could be wrong.
- Reboot your computer.
- Internet Search: Privacy settings on microphone [Windows 10] [Apple]
- Internet Search: Update microphone drivers [Windows 10] [Apple]
- You can also use the call in settings if they are available. (or just call your friend if you are one to one)
Have a great meeting
Once you are connected you can do a ton of cool things. Obviously you can chat and see each other. Zoom allows you to hide yourself and just see your friend. There is a speaker view to see whoever is speaking in a big window and the other people in little windows. You can set it to gallery view and see everyone in equal windows like the Brady Bunch intro.
Zoom also allows you to share your computer screens and send messages over chat.
My friend Rachel of Gentle Frog QuickBooks training and I created a clever how-to zoom video for you to see how to do many of the cool things.
Join us as we share our fun.
One of the ways I share Luxcentric with the world is to offer a complimentary introduction session. I use Zoom for this session and often include a quick mini-training on how to use Zoom.
Nicole Lux-Ritchie - Founder of Luxcentric
Nicole's mission is to help feminine professionals gain the technical
skills they need to grow their business and focus on their missions.
The focus of Luxcentric is on training practical strategies in the area of the core technologies.
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For those of you who find this information useful and would like to contribute to the cause (and keep it ad free)...
Please feel free to schedule a time with me and we can play Zoom together. See the scheduling link below.
