video running, with a host and special guest, and the gallery all at once

[Lyndall]

How do I have video running, with a host and special guest, and the gallery able to ask a question at any time - all at once?  I'm a bit overwhelmed at the moment!

[Ray_Harwood]

Hi, @Lyndall,

Hosting a meeting is often simple... but not always, as you've seen.  It takes time to develop your own approach to managing Zoom sessions - everyone has a little bit different take on things.  I'll share mine here.

If you're actually sharing a pre-made video, never stop it for Q&A.  Questions should always wait til the end in that case.  But if by "video" you mean a PowerPoint or other screen share... read on.

If the meeting size is small enough, most of the time participants will "self regulate" if you just tell them to unmute and interrupt with their question -- assuming the speaker is comfortable with that approach.

If the speaker wants questions held to the end, then just make sure everyone else is muted, and if anyone does unmute and interrupt... quickly gauge whether the speaker is experienced enough to do their own "crowd control", and if not, be prepared to "be the adult in the room" and politely remind people that questions were to be held to the end.

If there are many people, or if the smaller crowd seems to be spilling over with lots of questions, then I jump in and change the approach.  "Okay, to be fair to everyone with a question, please use the Zoom Raise Hand feature if you have a question, and I'll call on you when it's your turn."  Then call up your Participant list -- notice that as hands are raised, the order in the participant list (and in the gallery, if you are looking at gallery view) are in the order hands were raised, with the earliest ones at the top, and later ones under that.  Just call on them in that order, and you can lower their hand when their question has been stated... or when their answer has been given.  (Many opinions on which to use there!)

Also, some folks will want to put their questions in the Chat window.  While this complicates your "moderator" task somewhat, if there are many hands up and many questions in the chat, I like to try to alternate between the two.

Here's my further experience:  If your presenter doesn't leave much time for questions, very often I'll find their discussion has prompted many questions.  In this case, I generally tell people to put their questions in the chat window, and, well... then what.  If there's a follow-up discussion session later, those questions can go there; if the speaker is willing to answer the questions  and you have the ability to post the questions and answers to a web site (blog about your meeting?), that's also a good idea.  More work, but still a good idea.

One more suggestion when doing a slightly larger event: request (require?!) that your client (or boss) provide a moderator to handle the Q&A, while you work the Zoom technical stuff -- I often tell my clients "I'm the man behind the curtain... like in the Wizard of Oz".

Above all... stay calm.  You'll get the hang of managing Zoom sessions over time.  If you develop any of your own techniques, come back here and share them so others can learn from your experience!

[Lyndall · Accepted solution]

Thanks Ray, words of wisdom 😊