Hosting a Zoom meeting is mostly two things: getting your account set up, then choosing whether you want to start a meeting now or schedule one for later. In this guide I’ll walk you through the setup, the scheduling screen, and a handful of host shortcuts that make running a meeting a lot smoother.
If you haven’t read my article on joining a Zoom meeting, you may want to do that first, just so we’re all on the same screen. Today’s article will show you how to begin hosting your own meetings. So, grab a beverage of choice, and let’s begin!
Create Your Account
Before you can host a meeting, you need to set up an account for yourself. While joining a meeting doesn’t require this step, hosting a meeting does. Start at the Zoom sign up page, then choose the sign up option. Zoom may ask you to confirm your date of birth as part of verification.
Your Birthday
If you’re doing this with a screen reader, you’ll need to contend with three combo boxes for month, day, and year of your birthday. They don’t always behave the way you might expect, so here’s what I recommend.
Once on the Sign Up page, press H to move to the heading that says, For verification, please confirm your date of birth.
If you’re using NVDA, press NVDA Space. If you’re using JAWS, press JAWSKey Z.
Tab until you reach the Month combo box.
Press Space to open the combo box, then use Up Arrow and Down Arrow to select your month.
Tab to the day combo box and do the same.
Tab to the year combo box and do the same.
If all three combo boxes are entered correctly, tab to the Continue button and activate it.
Congratulations. You just got through the toughest part of this process. If you land on the email field, you’re on your way.
Next, type your email address and press Enter. It doesn’t have to be a work email address, even if the label says work email.
Zoom will send you an email with an activation link. After you confirm your email address, you’ll be placed in a form where you can set your name, password, and a few other options. Oh, hosting a meeting, yeah. That’s what we’re here for.
Interacting with Controls
Once you have your account set up, it’s time to host. The control names are generally similar across platforms. On a computer, you’ll usually tab through controls and press Space to activate what you want. On iPhone or iPad, flick to a control and double tap.
Start a Meeting Right Now
In the Zoom desktop app, the Home tab is where most people start. You can choose New Meeting to start immediately, or choose Schedule to create a meeting for later.
Scheduling a Meeting for the Future
To schedule a meeting in the Zoom desktop app, choose the Schedule button. Zoom’s own walkthrough is here: Scheduling meetings in Zoom Support.
Keyboard Shortcuts that Help When You’re Hosting
Zoom supports a long list of hot keys. The official list is in Zoom hot keys and keyboard shortcuts. Here are the ones I use the most on Windows:
Mute or unmute my audio, Alt A
Start or stop video, Alt V
Open or close the participants panel, Alt U
Open the invite window, Alt I
Raise or lower hand, Alt Y
Start or stop screen sharing, Alt S
Pause or resume screen sharing, Alt T
Start or stop local recording, Alt R
Pause or resume recording, Alt P
Mute or unmute audio for everyone except the host, Alt M, host only
Downloads and Add-ons
If you need the Zoom desktop app, mobile apps, or official plugins, start at the Zoom Download Center.
FAQ
Do I need a Zoom account to host a meeting?
Yes. You can join many meetings without signing in, but to host, you’ll need a Zoom account.
Why does the date of birth verification feel hard with a screen reader?
Those combo boxes can be picky about focus and mode. If your screen reader is in browse mode, switching to forms or focus mode usually makes the combo boxes behave more predictably.
We Zoomed Through That
As we wrap up, keep in mind that you may see more settings depending on your Zoom account level and the policies on your account. If you have questions or suggestions for other Zoom related articles, please drop me a comment below.
Come Zoom with me!
Qapla!
Great question Abbie.
The info in the article will work for any account. I purposely didn’t include things that may not be available in some cases.
Happy Hosting!
Casey, this is helpful. I have one question, though. Does all this apply to both free and paid accounts, or do those with a free account not have all the bells and whistles?