Setting up a Webinar in Zoom

Modified on Fri, 19 Feb, 2021 at 9:29 AM

We generally recommend that webinars are hosted using Zoom when the attendees are primarily parents, alumni, or people not directly affiliated with Trinity. If the attendees are primarily students, we recommend hosting the webinar using RingCentral: Setting Up a Webinar in RingCentral Meetings

Sometimes, you may want to host a meeting with more than 100 participants, or want to set up your meeting in such a way that only yourself and perhaps a few other people are able to talk and share their webcam/screen with everyone else. In these situations, setting up your meeting as a webinar is ideal. Here's how to do that.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background
- How a Webinar Works
- Before Your Webinar: Contact Tech Support
Setting Up the Webinar
Running the Webinar

Background

How a Webinar Works

You (the host) are able to use your microphone and webcam, and share your screen, just like a regular meeting. People who are set up as Panelists also have these abilities. Anyone else who joins the webinar is merely a viewer, and will not be able to use their microphone, webcam, or share their screen. These people are known as Attendees.

Webinars do not have waiting rooms, so both Panelists and Attendees will be able to join automatically.

Before Your Webinar: Contact Tech Support

Email [email protected] to let them know that you want to host a webinar. A special license is required to host webinars, so we will need to give you this license. Please let us know the maximum number of people you expect will join your webinar (or webinars, if you will be doing several within a short time frame). You will be given the webinar license in advance to set up the webinar, although you will only be able to keep the license for one day at a time. You'll be given the license again on the day of your webinar.

Setting Up the Webinar

The Webinars Page

The Webinars page is where you will schedule and start webinars, as you cannot do this from within the RingCentral Meetings app. To access this page:

Go to zoom.us and click Sign In.
Click the Google button to sign in with Google, then enter your Trinity Google credentials.
Click on the Webinars tab.

Scheduling a Webinar

Once you have been given a webinar license, you will be able to schedule webinars.

Go to the Webinars page.
Click on "Schedule a Webinar".
From here, you can enter the details of the webinar similarly to how you would schedule a regular meeting. Start by entering a name for the webinar.
Enter the time/date and duration of the webinar. If the same webinar is going to occur multiple times, check the "Recurring webinar" box, otherwise leave it unchecked.
Leave the "Registration" box unchecked unless you want your Attendees to have to register to be able to join. the webinar.
Leave the "Webinar Passcode" section as it is. It should be checked by default.
Choose whether or not you want the host and panelists to have their videos enabled by default. You will probably want to enable this.
Leave the "Audio" section as it is.
Under Webinar Options:
- Check the "Q&A" box if you want Attendees to be able to ask you questions similarly to how a chat works. Otherwise, leave it unchecked.
- Check the "Enable Practice Session" box, as this will allow the Host and Panelists to join the webinar before Attendees are allowed to join, so they can set up and be ready to go. This box is unchecked by default, so make sure you check it!
- Leave "Enable HD video for screen shared video" unchecked.
- Leave "Require authentication to join" unchecked.
- If you want to record the webinar, check the "Automatically record webinar" box. Otherwise, leave it unchecked.
- Leave "Approve or block entry for users from specific countries/regions" unchecked.
Under Alternative Hosts, enter the email address of anyone you want to be able to start the webinar for you in case you are unable to, if any.
When you are done setting up your webinar, click Schedule.

Using Webinar Templates

If you set up a webinar and know that you will want to make a similar webinar in the future, you can create a webinar template that lets you easily create future webinars.

Creating a Template

Go to the Webinars page if you are not already there.
Click on the name of the webinar you want to create a template of.
Scroll down until you find the option called "Save as Template" and click it.
Name the template, then click Save as Template.

Creating a Webinar Using a Template

Go to the Webinars page if you are not already there.
Click on the Webinar Templates tab.
Click on "Schedule a Webinar with this template" next to the template you want to use.
The meeting creation screen will then appear, with the template information already inserted. Make any modifications you want to, and then click Save.

Adding Panelists

Once you have scheduled your webinar, you can add Panelists to it. These people will also have the ability to talk, use a webcam, and share their screen.

Go to the Webinars page if you are not already there.
Click on the name of the webinar you want to add panelists to.
Scroll down to Invitations, and click Edit to the right of "Invite Panelists".
Enter the name and email address of the Panelist you want to add. If you want to add multiple panelists, click "Add Another Panelist" to add another slot.
Leave the "Send invitation to all newly added panelists immediately" box checked, unless you know you want to manually invite the Panelists later.
When you are done, click Save.

If you want to add an Attendee as a Panelist after the webinar has started, see the Promoting Attendees to Panelists section of this guide.

Here is how to copy a link to the webinar that can be shared with invitees:

Go to the Webinars page if you are not already there.
Click on the name of the webinar you want to copy the link to.
Scroll down to the "Invite Attendees" section.
Either click "Copy Invitation" to copy the full invitation with the link and instructions on how to join, or click on the Link to Join Webinar link to copy just the link itself.
The link can then be pasted in an email or any other document.

Running the Webinar

Starting a Webinar

When you are ready to start a webinar:

Go to the My Webinars page if you are not already there.
Click on the "Start" button to the right of the webinar you want to start.

The webinar will then start in the RingCentral Meetings app on your computer. The interface for a webinar is identical to the interface for a regular meeting, with the exception of any webinar-specific features you have enabled for your webinar (such as a Q&A).

IMPORTANT: If you checked the "Enable Practice Session" box when setting up the webinar, Attendees will not be able to join by default; only Panelists can join. When you are ready for Attendees to begin joining, click the "Start Webinar" button on the top of the screen.

Disabling Chat

The chat can only be disabled while the webinar is currently running. While in the webinar:

Click on the "Chat" button on the bottom. A chat window will appear on the right side of the screen.
Click on the three dots icon near the bottom right of the chat window.
Choose the option you want. If you want attendees to be unable to chat, choose "No one".

Promoting Attendees to Panelists

If a panelist's email address was entered incorrectly when they were invited, they may inadvertently join the webinar as an attendee. You can easily make them a panelist while in the webinar:

Click on the "Participants" button on the bottom. A participants window will appear on the right side of the screen.
Click on the "Attendees" tab. A list of all attendees will appear.
Click on the "More" button to bring up a list of options.
Click on "Promote to panelist".

If anyone is unable to share their screen in the webinar, try this:

Click on the up-arrow to the right of the Share button on the bottom.
Choose "All Panelists" for both sharing options.