What Not to Do in a Zoom Meet (8 Mistakes to Avoid)

Virtual meetings have become a necessity every day. While emails and chats are a quick way to get in touch with team members and clients, oftentimes, a Zoom meet is much better in ensuring effective communication.

There's an abundance of Zoom meet etiquettes you can follow to run an efficient meeting, but it's crucial to know the most common mistakes to watch out for. This article will focus on what not to do in a Zoom meeting.

1. Forgetting to mute your mic

The most common mistake during a Zoom meet is forgetting to mute your microphone when you're not speaking.

You may not realize how distracting your background noise is on the other end, not to mention how embarrassing it would be if someone on your end blurted out how you forgot to do the laundry or do the dishes. It might make a great anecdote someday, but it's best to keep the Zoom meet away from keyboard tapping, dog barking, or cars honking in the street.

💡 Zoom app allows you to adjust your audio settings to suppress background noises in your audio feed, whether to apply low, moderate, or high background noise reduction. Here's how to enable suppressing background noise in Zoom.

2. Forgetting to unmute your mic

How many times did you say a couple of sentences or even tell a whole story when realizing you're still on mute? Just like forgetting to mute your mic is a common mistake, forgetting to unmute is the second most common one.

Make sure to keep your mic on before you speak by simply holding the spacebar button in case you want to interject with a small comment or clicking the unmute icon. Use the Raise Hand feature in your Zoom meet if you want to avoid interrupting the speaker.

3. Eating or drinking during a video call

Not only is it unprofessional to eat, drink, or smoke during a meeting, but also it's incredibly distracting, especially in a Zoom meet as opposed to a physical one. This is because, in a virtual meeting, people will be looking at your face the entire time.

You may allow yourself and the other attendees to eat or drink as an ice breaker in a casual meeting, not a formal one. Otherwise, you could ask the attendees if they don't mind you having a cup of coffee during the meeting if you needed one, but avoid eating or smoking at all costs.

4. Focusing on something else other than the meeting

We all may be distracted by things like our phones, a family member calling us, or another event happening around us during a Zoom meet.

This is why it's absolutely important to conduct your meeting in a quiet place away from distractions and keep your phone silent and out of reach.

Keep this in mind especially in one-on-one or small-group meetings where your divided attention may be noticed.

If you're in a large-group meeting, you could subtly excuse yourself by turning off your camera for a minute or two at the most, while mentioning you'll be right back in the group chat. However, don't take too long because people will still expect your attendance and full attention.

5. Not looking professional for the meeting

It's no secret that most of us take our Zoom meetings from home in our pajamas, but it's not the best idea to let your teammates know you're in your pajamas!

Maybe you'll have to get up and grab something from your desk or someone may call for you and you have to get up without realizing you're not dressed for a professional meeting.

Save yourself a PJ embarrassment and dress appropriately, especially during a video call, or you won't hear the end of it for months!

6. Hogging the conversation

Whether you're the main speaker or an attendee, try not to hog the conversation when it's your turn to speak. If you're the host of the meeting and have an important announcement, try not to talk for more than 15 to 20 minutes at a time without giving anyone a chance to participate.

Allowing people to share their thoughts in a Zoom meet will increase engagement and ensure they won't doze off while you go on and on about a certain topic.

7. Avoiding being on camera

While not every Zoom meet should be a video call, meeting with people face-to-face, so to speak, is necessary to increase engagement among team members.

You may be embarrassed by people or pets at your place always appearing in your background or maybe you didn't have time to clean up your home office. However, keep in mind that many managers and execs dislike talking to blank screens during virtual meetings because they can't really tell if you're paying attention or not.

Take a few minutes to tidy a corner in your room to have your Zoom meet and inform people at home that you're in an important meeting. If interruptions take place, embrace them lightly and trust people will understand and may even laugh about it.

8. Forgetting to familiarize yourself with Zoom features

If it's you're first time hosting a Zoom meet, don't wait till the last minute to familiarize yourself with the features you'll use during the meeting. You'll need to know where things are, like sharing your screen or playing an audio file beforehand to avoid delays during the meeting; it's not a professional look to keep people waiting while you figure out these minor technicalities.

Another great tip is to make sure your laptop is fully charged and the Zoom app is upgraded to the latest version. Do a test run at least 15 minutes before the meeting to make sure everything's in order.

Bonus. We've recently released "The Future of Meetings Report," where over 490 experts from various industries share their insights on challenges and AI in meetings!

The bottom line

Having a Zoom meet on a regular basis has become the norm nowadays, and you're bound to make some of the mistakes mentioned in this article. To run a smooth Zoom meeting, make sure to keep the aforementioned tips in mind to make a good impression and avoid unnecessary delays during your meetings.

We recommend using all-in-one meeting management software that integrates with Zoom and numerous tools to avoid delays by alternating between 3 or 4 apps during your Zoom meet.

And while there may be multiple meeting management solutions available, here is why adam.ai is the all-in-one meeting management platform you can trust:

• adam.ai is one of Atlassian Ventures' portfolio companies.
• In the meeting management software category on G2, adam.ai has been ranked a leader and a high performer for successive quarters in the past years.
• adam.ai has been included in the Forrester Report in the AI-enabled meeting technology landscape.
• adam.ai is trusted and used by powerful teams and organizations worldwide for all types of critical meetings, like board, committee, project management, and business development meetings.
• And most importantly, adam.ai integrates with your existing workflow, is SOC2 compliant, provides dedicated support and success, and has a free trial option.