Zoom Webinar Platform

Overview

Zoom’s Webinar platform allows for larger, more speaker-focused events compared to Zoom Meetings, which tend to be more interactive. A few of the advantages of Zoom Webinars include:

  • Larger audience sizes – Licenses available for 1,000- and 3,000-attendee webinars
  • A “Practice Session” feature to help you get ready for your event
  • Fewer, less distracting participation options for audience members
  • Advanced Q&A feature
  • Ability to set up webinar speaker profiles, post-webinar surveys, and much more.

For a more detailed comparison of Zoom Meetings and Webinars, visit this Zoom Help Center page.

Note: The ability to schedule Webinars requires a special license that is separate from your Tufts Zoom Meetings license. See below for more information.

Zoom Webinar licenses are available on a temporary basis to staff and faculty of Tufts University. To speak with someone about obtaining a temporary license, please email it@tufts.edu. Depending on your needs and if it is your first time using the Webinar platform, you may be asked to complete one or two separate consultations with a member of Tufts Technology Services.

  • Consultation #1 (approximately 30 min)
    • Discuss Zoom Meeting versus Webinar platforms and determine if a Webinar is actually required.
    • If it is determined that a Webinar license will be granted, discuss Webinar scheduling.
  • Consultation #2 (approximately 60 min)
    • “Day of Webinar” training, including meeting and participant management.

NOTE: In order to schedule a Zoom Webinar, you must have a Webinar license!

  1. Log in to tufts.zoom.us with your Tufts username (e.g. jjumbo01) and password.
  2. Select Webinars in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click Schedule a Webinar toward the top right corner of the window.Schedule a Webinar button
  4. Fill out the scheduling form.
    • Topic – Give the webinar a short, descriptive name.
    • Description (Optional) – Provide more detail about the webinar.
    • When – Set webinar date and start time.
    • Duration – Estimate the duration of your event.
    • Time Zone – Usually “(GMT-5:00) Eastern Time” for Tufts, but you can select something else if necessary.
    • Recurring webinar – Not generally recommended, but can be used to set up a daily, weekly, or monthly webinar. You can also set up a webinar with “No Fixed Time”.
    • Registration – Use this to set up a registration form for your meeting which attendees must fill out in advance. This is often recommended for large and/or public webinars.
    • Webinar Passcode – Allows you to set up a passcode for you event. Attendees joining using the Webinar ID number rather than a link will need the passcode to join.
    • Video – Select “on” for Participant video. This will allow Panelists to turn on their video at the beginning of the event.
    • Audio – This section is locked. Attendees will be able to connect to audio on their computer or over the phone.
    • Webinar Options – See below.
      • Q&A – Generally recommended. Allows attendees to submit questions, which can be answered by Hosts, Co-hosts, and Panelists. More options for the Q&A feature can be configured after you schedule the webinar. See the “Advanced Webinar Options” section.
      • Enable Practice Session – Strongly recommended. Allows the scheduler to launch the webinar in “practice mode” any time before the actual event. In practice mode, you can play around with settings and features. Attendees are not able to join while you are in practice mode.
      • Require authentication to join – Restricts access to the webinar to current members of Tufts University (students, faculty, and staff).
      • Make the webinar on-demand – Not recommended. If turned on, the webinar will be automatically recorded AND made immediately available to attendees after the event. Because something could happen during your webinar that you don’t want recorded and shared, this is not recommended. Instead, it is recommended that you manually share the recording after the event, when you know there is nothing wrong with it.
      • Automatically record webinar – Automatically records the webinar either to your local device or the Tufts Zoom cloud storage space. Cloud is recommended.
      • Approve or block entry for users from specific countries/regions – Not generally recommended.
    • Alternative Hosts – Invite other Tufts Zoom users to be alternative hosts for your event.
  5. Click Schedule at the bottom of the form.

Once the event is scheduled, additional options are available on the webinar details page. For information, see the next section on “Advanced Webinar Options.”

Note: To manage the options described below, the webinar must already be scheduled.

  1. Log in to tufts.zoom.us with your Tufts username (e.g. jjumbo01) and password.
  2. Select Webinars in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click on the name of your webinar.Selecting a webinar
  4. A webinar details page will load. Scroll to the bottom of the page. A series of tabs will be available. Some of the options available under these tabs are described below.Advanced options tabs
    • Invitations

      • Invite Panelists – Recommended as the last step, when everything else is in place. Provide the names and email addresses of panelists/speakers for your webinar. Zoom will send each panelist an email invitation.
      • Invite Attendees – Copy invitation/registration link. You can also generate tracking links that allow you to figure out what is driving traffic to your event (e.g. email, webpages, etc.)
      • Registration Settings – Manage registration options and questions.
      • Manage Attendees – View and manage attendee registration statuses.
    • Email Settings
      (Note: All automated emails from the Zoom Webinar platform will be sent from the "no-reply@zoom.us" address.)

      • Email Contact – Change the email contact that is listed in webinar emails. By default, the scheduler of the meeting is listed as the email contact.
      • Invitation Email to Panelists – Determine whether an invitation email is sent to panelists.
      • Confirmation Email to Registrants – Manage email that is sent to registrants upon confirmation.
      • Reminder email to Attendees and Panelists – Manage frequency of reminder emails to attendees and panelists.
      • Follow-up email to Attendees – Manage email sent to attendees AFTER webinar.
      • Follow-up email to Absentees – Manage email sent to people who registered for event but didn’t attend.
    • Branding

      • Title – Edit the title that appears at the top of webinar registration page.
      • Banner – Manage image that is displayed at the top of the invitation page.
      • Logo – Manage the image that is displayed on the right side of the invitation page, registration page, and email invitation.
      • Speakers – Create speaker profiles for each of your panelists. These profiles will appear at the bottom of the registration form.
      • Theme – Adjust theme colors for the registration page.
      • Post Attendee URL – Include a URL to be provided to attendees. This URL will open in the Zoom launch page 5 min after they join the webinar.
      • Social Media Share Description – Customize the description that will appear on the registration post to Facebook and LinkedIn.
    • Polls

      • Manage in-webinar polls.
    • Survey

      • Manage a post-webinar survey. The survey will automatically appear for participants when the webinar is ended. Surveys can be built right in Zoom or included from a 3rd party service.
    • Q & A

      • Settings – Manage settings for the webinar’s Q & A feature, including whether anonymous questions are allowed.
    • More

      • Live Streaming – Manage live streaming of webinar.

The Practice Session allows the scheduler, alternative hosts, and panelists to enter the webinar and practice or get set up before opening the webinar to attendees. The Practice Session can be launched at any point before the webinar and can be used multiple times. Once you are ready, the actual webinar can be opened to the rest of the attendees right from the Practice Session.

Using the Practice Session

  1. Log in to tufts.zoom.us with your Tufts username (e.g. jjumbo01) and password.
  2. Select Webinars in the left-hand menu.
  3. Click on the name of your webinar.
  4. A webinar details page will load. Click Start Practice Session.Starting a practice session
  5. The webinar will launch in “practice” mode. Alternative hosts and panelists will be able to get into the Practice Session, but attendees cannot. While in practice mode, you can adjust webinar settings, practice sharing content, etc.
  6. When you are done practicing, you can do one of the following:
    • Click End to end the Practice Session.
    • Click Start Webinar to begin the actual event. Attendees will now be able to enter the webinar.Ending practice session

During an event, the Zoom webinar window will look similar to what is pictured below for Hosts, Co-hosts, and Panelists/Speakers. Available options will depend on your role in the meeting and how the meeting is configured. For more information, visit this page about webinar roles in the Zoom Help Center.

Host's webinar window

Webinar Controls for Hosts, Co-hosts, and Panelists/Speakers

  • Use the Panelists tab of the Participant panel to manage webinar settings.Panelists tab of Participant panel
  • Use the Attendees tab of the Participant panel to manage individual participants, including giving individual attendees the ability to unmute their microphone.Attendees tab of Participant panel
  • Use the Chat feature to send messages to participants. They can also decide whether participants have the ability to send chats.Managing Chat
  • Manage the Q&A feature.Q&A feature
  • Manage participants’ view.Managing Attendee View

     

  • Enable live transcripts.
  • Manage recordings.
  • Launch and manage Polls.

During an event, the Zoom webinar window will look similar to what is pictured below for attendees. By default, attendees cannot start their video or unmute their audio. Depending on how the webinar is configured, attendees can potentially raise their hand, use the chat window, and use the Q&A feature. For more information, visit this page about webinar roles in the Zoom Help Center.

Attendee webinar window

Zoom Webinar participants can:

  • See and hear the Host, Co-hosts, and Panelists.
  • Use the Chat feature (Enabled by default, but can be disabled)
  • Raise their hand (Enabled by default, but can be disabled)
  • Use the Q&A feature (Must be enabled)
  • Unmute to ask a question (if given permission by a Host/Co-host)

Scheduling the Webinar

  • Require registration for large and/or public meetings.
    • If all of the attendees will be members of Tufts University (current students, faculty, and staff), enable the “Require authentication to join” option.
  • Enable the Practice Session feature, even if you don’t think you’ll need it.
    • Use the Practice Session, to do a dry run of your event with your Co-hosts and panelists, if possible.
    • The day of the webinar, use the Practice session to get set up before you let attendees in.
  • If you want the webinar to be recorded, consider setting it up to record automatically. It is generally recommended that you record to the cloud rather than to your local device.
  • If possible, invite one or more people with knowledge of Zoom as Alternative Hosts and give them specific roles in your webinar (e.g. a person to monitor the Q & A, etc.).

After the Webinar is Scheduled

  • Invite attendees and Panelists/Speakers as the last step, after everything else is in place!
  • Depending on the event, you may want to set up Speaker profiles for your Panelists!
  • When adjusting options for the Q&A, anonymous questions are not recommended. It is also recommended that you allow attendees to view answered questions only. 
  • If you are using the Registration feature:
    • Adjust your registration options and questions before you send out the registration link!
    • Keep an eye on registrations.
    • Generate a Registration Report to create a .csv file that contains all of your registration data.
  • Configure reminder and follow-up emails as necessary.
  • Consider uploading images for banners and logos to make your event feel more professional.
  • Want audience feedback? Consider using the Poll and Survey features!
  • Want to livestream your webinar? Talk to someone on the TTS A/V team!

Webinar Management

  • Have a clear agenda for your Webinar.
  • Make sure all Co-hosts and Panelists understand their responsibilities.
  • Lock down the Chat feature depending on who you want your attendees to be send messages to, if at all.
  • If you aren’t going to need it, disable the “Raise Hand” feature for attendees.
  • For accessibility and general usability, use the Live Transcript feature.
  • Turn off the “Join and Leave Sound”
  • Adjust the “Attendee View” to whatever you think would be most beneficial to your audience.
  • For the Q&A feature:
    • Don’t allow anonymous questions if you think it will be a problem.
    • Keep an eye on the Q&A window for anything offensive.
      • Dismiss and delete offensive questions/comments as necessary.
  • Remove attendees from the webinar, if necessary.