Zoom has become the gold standard for video calls and online meetings, seeing unprecedented growth during the pandemic‘s work-from-home revolution. As businesses, schools, families and friends adopt Zoom for everything from conferences to classrooms to happy hours, more users are finding themselves in the hosting seat.
Luckily, Zoom makes it easy for newcomers to launch and lead meetings with just a few clicks across desktop and mobile. In this comprehensive guide from a data analyst‘s perspective, let‘s walk through everything you need to know about hosting on Zoom step-by-step.
A Brief History: Zoom‘s Rise to Video Dominance
It‘s hard to believe Zoom only launched in 2011. Founded by former Cisco Webex executive Eric Yuan after he immigrated to Silicon Valley, Zoom sought to make video meetings more fluid and user-friendly. The rapid adoption of smartphones and improving internet speeds provided a foundation for growth in the 2010s.
However, Zoom really took flight in March 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic forced activities remote. Compare its daily meeting participants before vs after:
| Date | Daily Meeting Participants |
|---|---|
| December 2019 | 10 million |
| April 2020 | 300 million |
In just three months during early quarantines, Zoom‘s user base grew 3,000% year-over-year. Its stock price quadrupled as investors saw immense potential. Unlike complex legacy competitors, Zoom‘s interface prioritized simplicity and just worked seamlessly across devices.
The platform became integral for everything from office meetings and class lectures to family celebrations and religious services. As one tech analyst remarked, "Zoom elegantly walked through an open door in video-based human communication."
Now firmly established in 2022, Zoom remains the default choice for both business and personal video meetings with no end in sight.
Hosting Privileges: Why Lead Meetings on Zoom
Starting meetings as the designated host allows special privileges over standard participation. Think of it like being the administrator of a website vs just a visitor.
So what powers do hosts have?
- Admit participants from waiting rooms
- Mute/unmute anyone causing noise
- Disable video if bandwidth concerns arise
- Remove unwanted or disruptive guests
- Make other attendees co-hosts to help manage
- Start/stop screen sharing
- Launch breakout rooms for smaller group discussions
- Broadcast livestreams to large webinar audiences
- Record meeting for later playback
- Create multiple channels for parallel chat conversations
Meanwhile, regular participants can only control their own video/audio feeds, screen share if allowed, use chat, and interact via gestures like raise hand.
Here‘s a breakdown comparing hosting to participation:
| Capability | Host | Participant |
|---|---|---|
| Manage Others‘ Video/Audio | ✅ | ❌ |
| Screensharing Control | ✅ | ❌ |
| Remove Attendees | ✅ | ❌ |
| Designate Co-Hosts | ✅ | ❌ |
| Launch Breakouts | ✅ | ❌ |
| Host Large Events | ✅ | ❌ |
| Record Meeting | ✅ | ❌ |
| Control Chat Channels | ✅ | ❌ |
For collaborative meetings like brainstorms, workshops, trainings etc where engagement matters, the host seat enables the most flexibility.
Now let‘s get into the step-by-step guide…
Step 1: Sign Up for Your Zoom Account
Before hosting meetings, you need a free or paid Zoom account. Navigate to Zoom‘s website and click Sign Up Free in the top right corner.
You‘ll enter basic details like your email, name, and create a password. Zoom will send a confirmation link to activate your account. Easy!
On mobile, simply download the Zoom app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Log in or sign up there with the same process.
Having an account allows hosting privileges not available to drop-in guests.
Step 2: Initiate a Meeting (Desktop App)
The Zoom desktop app unlocks all major features, so download and install it from your account. Log in using the credentials you just created.
You‘ll see the main Home page. Click or tap the prominent orange Start Meeting button near the top to begin an instant session.
A dialog will ask you to choose video and audio sources for the meeting. Make sure you correctly allow access so others see and hear you! Once set up, Zoom places you right into a live meeting.
The host controls along the bottom will now be unlocked and yours to manage.
Step 3: Start Mobile Meetings
What if you need to lead a meeting on the go from your phone or tablet? Same general idea!
Open the Zoom app and log in the same way. Tap the navy blue Start Meeting icon on the top toolbar:
Pick your audio and video sources when prompted, just like on desktop. The mobile interfaces are very intuitive and consistent whether you use iOS or Android.
Step 4: Invite Other Participants
Now for the fun part – bringing others into your hosted meeting!
There are a few ways to add participants across desktop and mobile:
Contacts – Invite connections synced from your address book
Quick but relies on existing contacts
Phone – Call landline or mobile phone numbers directly via Zoom
Great for cold-calling new participants
Email – Send invite emails powered by integrated providers
Most robust integration with business tools
URL – Copy and send the meeting‘s join link
Fastest way to notify outside normal channels
Let‘s explore these options further…
Inviting from Contacts
If you store key contacts in your computer‘s address book or mobile phone contacts, those will sync automatically to Zoom under the Contacts tab.
You can quickly check boxes to select who you want to join and send the invite out instantly.
Pros
- Very fast way to alert existing connections
Cons - Limited if you don‘t already store the person‘s info
Calling Phones via Zoom
Unexpected guests? Cold calls to new team members, partners or clients? No problem!
Choose the Phone tab and Zoom allows dialing their number directly using your account‘s talk minutes. Once someone picks up, Zoom will offer to connect the call to your live meeting with a prompt.
Pros
- Easy way to loop in people outside your contacts
Cons - Requires buying Zoom Phone minutes
Integrated Email Services
For most business professionals, contacting colleagues via email tends to be faster and more expected than live calls.
Zoom elegantly integrates various email providers like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo and distribution lists under the Email tab:
Select your service or list > choose contacts > customize invite message > send!
Here‘s how Zoom adoption across email providers compares according to recent surveys:
| Email Service | Market Share | Zoom Integration Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Gmail | 70% | ***** |
| Outlook | 65% | ***** |
| Yahoo | 30% | **** |
| iCloud | 15% | *** |
Smooth access via Gmail and Outlook drives much of Zoom‘s email capabilities given how widely used those platforms are for business.
Pros
- Leverages existing professional networks
Cons - Less helpful inviting friends/family than business contacts
Sharing Meeting URLs
Don‘t see a contact in your integrated address books or want to loop in friends across social platforms? No sweat!
Every Zoom meeting generates a unique URL participants can click or tap to join instantly. Locate the invite URL under the bottom left Share icon:
Pasting this link to chats, texts, social posts etc gives anyone access through their browser. The most frictionless way to get new faces into your meeting if other tools don‘t suffice. No app download required.
Pros
- Allows anyone to join with a single click
Cons - Less security than contacts or email
Now let‘s get more advanced when planning meetings as host…
Scheduling Upcoming Meetings
So far we‘ve covered starting instant Zoom meetings and inviting guests on the fly. But what if you want to plan sessions in advance vs spur of the moment?
Scheduling ahead allows creating your meeting "room" early, configuring settings, and letting attendees calendar invitations. Great for recurring team meetings, webinars, conferences and the like.
Visit the browser-based Zoom portal and click Schedule a Meeting to begin. Choose options like date, duration, password protection, waiting room usage etc.
Zoom will generate a link attendees can use when you go live that routes them into configurable virtual staging areas like the waiting room before bringing everyone onscreen. Super slick for managing larger scale presentations.
Zoom scheduling empowers hosts to:
- Create recurring meeting links that persist every week, month etc
- Let people pre-register with questions upon RSVP
- Simulate in-person events safely
- Control the participant experience from start to finish
In surveys of hosts using scheduling versus starting instant meetings:
| Feature | % Who Always Enable When Scheduling |
|---|---|
| Waiting Rooms | 81% |
| Registration | 65% |
| Recurring | 58% |
| Password | 55% |
The ability to funnel attendees and prevent disruptions makes configuration very appealing.
Secure Your Meetings from Zoombombing
Of course, opening access to your meetings inevitably increases risk of trolls. "Zoombombing" refers to malicious actors guessing or obtaining links to public Zoom sessions and hijacking them to share inappropriate or offensive content with participants.
Unsavory? Absolutely. But luckily easily preventable as a host!
When scheduling a meeting or starting an instant one you wish to keep private, make sure Require Meeting Password is checked under Advanced options:
Share that password only with invitees rather than publicly posting the Zoom link everywhere. Verifying identities gives you control over the attendee roster.
According to Zoom‘s analytics, meetings protected by passwords see 99% fewer instances of zoombombing vs those fully left open to anyone. So I always recommend hosts enable this feature as a first layer of defense.
Additional steps like enabling waiting rooms, controlling screen sharing access, and locking down the room once all invitees have arrived further bolster security.
Zoom Plans for Comparison
Most Zoom capabilities covered apply whether you‘re on the Free tier or paid Pro/Business/Enterprise plans. However, upgrading unlocks benefits like:
- Longer maximum meeting durations
- More total participants
- Higher quality video and audio
- Advanced admin controls for large organizations
- Transcripts and cloud recording storage
Here‘s an at-a-glance comparison of what you receive across Zoom‘s paid plans:
| Basic Free | Pro | Business | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0/month | $149/year | $200/year per host |
| Meeting Duration | 40 minutes | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| Max Participants | 100 | 100 | 300 |
| Cloud Recording | Local only | 1GB storage | 1GB storage per license |
| Transcripts | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Admin Dashboard | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Support | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Wrapping Up
I hope this detailed guide gives you the confidence to start hosting meetings on Zoom and manage memorable, productive sessions across desktop or mobile. While Zoom will undoubtedly keep evolving and adding nifty new features, its core meeting foundations perform admirably.
Just remember your heightened responsibilities as host. Spend time upfront thinking through your goals, audience and ideal pace. Configure options wisely based on those needs.
During live meetings, gently guide discussions, highlight questions from the chat, troubleshoot issues, and don‘t hesitate to designate a co-host or swap presenter spotlights. Most importantly, have fun with it!
Video meetings enable us to collaborate across cities in the same fluid workspace like never before. Unleash that potential in your next Zoom session.
Have more questions? Let me know in the comments!
