When you’re meeting in person or are in front of the audience, nonverbal behavior can give important clues such as; their level of attentiveness, excitement, agreement, confusion, or disagreement. We believe that meeting over Zoom should be as good as meeting in person.

Zoom’s video & audio are crystal clear. Your virtual meetings are super reliable, very clear and everyone can participate on video. You may see some eye-rolls, head nods, smiles and hand gestures, and you have other engagement tools (chat, polls, and attention indicator).

But sometimes it can be difficult to gauge what your audience is really thinking. And as an audience member, it can be hard to let the presenter know what’s on your mind without interrupting, especially in large meetings, such as all-hands or training sessions.

This week we’re introducing nonverbal feedback icons that show up in the meeting’s participant list for all to see.

• Raise hand – this special indicator will also send a notification to the meeting host. Now you’ll know right away if someone has a question or important comment.
• Yes / No – Ask a yes/no question and you can quickly see everyone’s opinion.
• Go slower / go faster – Some of us talk too fast, or sometimes you’re presenting something your audience already knows about. These indicators will let you know if you need to slow down or move on.
• Thumbs up or down – no explanation needed here. Here’s to hoping for many thumbs up in your future meetings!
• Applause – we all love getting some big-time approval!
• Coffee – It’s time to take a break 🙂
• Clock – It might be time to wrap it up! Keep an eye on the time or you’re going to lose your audience soon.

As the meeting host, you can clear all indicators at any time during the meeting. Not seeing these in your meetings? Login at Zoom.us and you’ll find the option to turn on Nonverbal Feedback under your Meeting Settings.