Best Practices for Using Breakout Rooms in Zoom Webinars

[Rhalloys]

Hey, I’m Aisha and I work at R.H. Alloys. How can I effectively utilize breakout rooms during Zoom webinars for enhanced participant engagement? Are there any advanced features or best practices that can help optimize their use?

[aileenfelix]

Hi Aisha - Welcome to the Zoom Community.

Sharing with you this link which have the information you would need to know about Zoom’s Breakout Rooms.

Also, here are some additional tips that can help make your Zoom breakout rooms productive and engaging for your participants:

• Provide clear instructions: Always provide clear instructions and expectations before sending participants to breakout rooms.
• Customize your room names: Instead of the generic names like "Breakout Room 1" and "Breakout Room 2", you can use creative  names related to the topic to pique participants' interest.
• Have icebreakers: Especially for long breakout sessions, you can include a short icebreaker activity at the beginning. This can help participants feel more comfortable interacting with each other.
• Use collaboration tools: Utilize features like Zoom whiteboard, screen sharing, or polling tools to encourage collaboration and active participation.
• Have breakout room activities: For more complex topics, consider incorporating breakout room challenges or mini-activities that require collaboration and problem-solving. You can also insert a game-like element by awarding points to breakout rooms. This can add a fun factor and encourage friendly competition
• Breakout room support & monitoring: Monitor breakout room discussions and offer support if needed.
  Vary breakout room sizes: Experiment with different group sizes depending on the task or discussion. Smaller groups might be better for brainstorming, while larger groups can work well for sharing ideas.
• Have short breaks: For extended meetings with multiple breakout sessions, consider incorporating short breaks between sessions to prevent fatigue and allow participants to regroup.
• Provide feedback: After using breakout rooms, gather feedback from participants and adapt your approach for future meetings to continuously improve engagement.

Hope these tips help.