Many Fitness Instructors and Yoga Teacher, including me, have been using Zoom since the lockdown to continue teaching classes and keep people engaged and happy during this difficult time. Not everyone feels ready to return to the studio so I put together the ultimate beginner guide to Zoom so you can join the Zoom life quickly and easily. If you are not used to video conferencing the idea to take a class or meet people on your screen can be a bit scary. But don’t worry I got you covered :-) I will walk you through the process bit by bit and hopefully, we can dance and laugh together online soon. I’ve also included a guide to how you can book a FREE Trial class through my website and how you can best book your classes if you want to regularly attend my.
© Copyright 2020 Artwork by Cordi Neckermann
What is Zoom?
Zoom is the software that you need to attend a class online. Instead of actually stepping into a room we meet in a virtual room on the computer, tablet, or phone which is called the Zoom Meeting. Until we are all ready to meet in person again Zoom replaces the studio or location in which the classes takes place.
Positive side effect! :-)
You don’t have to:
leave the house and waste time commuting to class
deal with annoying traffic
Dress up
Worry about catching Covid or other Viruses
Sounds pretty good, right?
How to join a class:
Download and Install: In order to join a meeting, you need to install Zoom on your computer, phone, or tablet. On your Computer: Click to here and then download and install Zoom on your computer On your Phone or Tablet: Visit the App Store and install the Zoom App
Join a Meeting
Meeting ID and Passcode: The information you need to join the class is the Meeting ID and Passcode. I send these out to you in an email after you booked with me. You can enter the Meeting ID manually by opening Zoom on your Computer, Phone or Tablet. In your home area, you will find the Join icon. Click on the icon and you will be able to enter your meeting ID followed by the passcode
Joining via a link Another way to join a Meeting is via a link. I always send out both the link and the Meeting ID (plus Passcode) to make sure you have two options available to join the meeting. In order to join via the link you simply have to click on it and you will be taken to sign in.
Sign in
When you arrive at the Studio in real life your instructor or teacher would ask you to sign in on a register to keep a record of who attended the class.
On Zoom this is called the Registration. After walking through the virtual door on Zoom using your link or Meeting ID/Passcode you will be asked to register for your zoom meeting with your name and email address.
This is also a good opportunity for you to check if you are about to join the correct meeting. Take a quick look and double-check the Topic and time of the meeting.
If you decide to register a few days in advance you will also receive an email with a direct link to the meeting. It is NOY necessary to register days in advance. It is enough to do it a few minutes before class.
After you registered you will see the link that takes you directly to your meeting. All you have to do is click it and you are there :-)
The Waiting Room
You might find yourself in the Zoom waiting room after you’ve joined the meeting. It will say on screen please wait the host will let you in soon. All you have to do is wait :-)
When your teacher is ready to let you in you will be moved to the Zoom meeting and then all the magic happens. You get to take your favorite class and meet all the lovely people from the comfort of your own home.
Yes, you guessed it right. I love Zoom :-) I get to dance and stay connected with all the wonderful people who love taking my class without the risk of sharing any germs. I love to chat with people before and after class :-)
Next, you will learn how to navigate the screen so you can feel comfortable and safe.
How to navigate your screen when in class
Below is what the screen will look like when you are let into the Zoom meeting. In my example, there are only two people in the meeting so if there are more it will look slightly different. There will be more squares with either the video, name, or photo of the participant on your screen:
Yellow Circle Top Right
Viewing Options: When you click on this area you can choose how to view your Zoom screen. For the purpose of the class, you want to make sure you keep it in Speaker View. This way you see the main speaker which will be your Instructor all the time.
Pink Circle on the Right upper corner of your Instructor's video
If you find your screen is still flickering from person to person you can click on the three white dots on the right top corner of your Instructor's square and then click on the word Pin. This will pin your instructor's video to your screen for you.
Green Circle on the Bottom Left corner of the screen
Here you see a little picture of a microphone and a camera. Just by clicking on these, you can turn your camera and audio on and off. When there is a line across the image as seen above your video and sound is turned off. Which means nobody in the meeting can see or hear you.
Blue Circle on the Bottom Center of the screen
The speech bubble icon is the Zoom Chat. In the example above it has been clicked which means you can see it open on the right-hand side of the screen. You can type messages to everyone or select a certain person only. This is a good alternative if you don't feel like you want to keep your audio and screen off.
Red Circle on the Bottom Right of the screen
The little smiley face icon is for Reaction buttons. They will appear on the screen for everyone to see next to your name for a few seconds. This is a good tool if you would like to draw your instructor's attention to the screen in case you have a question.
Leave meeting:
On the bottom right you can see the red button labeled Leave. At any point in time you can click this button and leave the meeting.
Why you can feel safe in my Zoom classes
There are quite a few steps involved to join the meeting. This is to make sure that no unwanted guests appear in the class. But even if somebody cheats their way into class you can be assured that I will remove that person from the meeting and make sure they won’t be able to join again.
If you would like to see the process of joining a meeting in action here is a short video for you to watch:
Zoom is not so scary after all right? You can book a FREE trail class here.
See you soon on Zoom,
Cordi