If you’re hosting, it might be more helpful to set an agenda so people know what to expect: “We’ll chat from 6 to 6:30ish, then I was thinking we could (play some games / do a scavenger hunt / watch the new season of “Nailed It!” on Netflix / work on our separate crafting projects simultaneously.)” Here, you have to keep a conversation going among everyone at once. In a normal party setting, you’d split off and have side conversations among a few people and migrate around to different groups. Plan things to do other than just talking.Social events via video conference require a bit more planning and finesse than a casual hang. Plan some games that take advantage of the technology instead of trying to work around it. Start your gatherings on time so people aren’t left hanging on the hold screen. Google Hangouts and Skype don’t set time limits.
#Simon says ideas for zoom upgrade#
If you’re hosting the meeting with Zoom, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro account or have to restart the meeting every 40 minutes when the free version runs out. Just double-check that people aren’t staring at a mountain of dirty laundry or empty cans before you click “join meeting.” An alternative: Queue up some good virtual backgrounds. “In a sense we’ve all become set designers,” said Mark Marino, who says he’d used Zoom a handful of times before coronavirus but now uses it regularly as a professor who teaches writing at USC. Your friends are going to care less about what your house looks like than your boss might, but it’s still good to tidy up before guests come over, even if only virtually.
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Otherwise, you risk incurring the dreaded down-facing double chin. Put your laptop on top of a stack of books so the camera is at about eye level while you’re sitting down. I covered this in my complete guide to working from home, but it all still applies here. To look your best, put your laptop on a stack of books and check your background before you go live.To change the view, go to the top right of the screen and click “Gallery View.” Gallery view gives you the “Brady Bunch"-style grid in which you’re all in the same size window. Sometimes, more than one person is talking, or some other noise prompts the camera to switch over, like sirens outside or a dog barking. Speaker view makes sense when you’re watching a work presentation but feels less natural in a group setting. With speaker video, the person making the most noise is a big picture, while everyone else is in a little bar at the side or along the top.
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With Zoom, gallery view is better than speaker video.It also makes it feel a little more natural if you need to get up - like you’re just pushing your chair back from the table at a dinner party instead of making everyone else stare at your ceiling as your phone sits face up while you refill your drink.
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Also, if you have your laptop set up on a table in front of you, it’s easier to eat and drink. The video and sound quality tend to be lower coming from your phone. You’ll quickly discover that holding a phone up at face height for an extended period of time is no fun.