Being an Effective Participant

When you walk into a classroom for training, or a conference room for a meeting, it is easy to see the tools that are available to you and the host. There maybe be a white board with markers, an easel with a large note pad or an overhead projector. Also, the room may be arranged so that you sit in groups. These tools are not as obvious when you join a virtual meeting, but they are there.

In this manual, we will go over each of these tools and how to use them when you are an attendee.

Participant Tools

Raise Hand

On the right side of the screen under the participant list, there is a Raise Hand button. When you click on the button the host/presenter sees a hand next to your name in the participant list. This tool is useful for getting your hosts attention whether you are asking a question or volunteering. When you click on the Raise Hand button the hand appears for the host/presenter and your button now says Lower Hand.

You will not see the hand in the participant list, but host/presenter does. Click on the Lower Hand button when you have finished the task.

Chat

The chat feature offers you a few different options. You can chat openly to the whole group or to an individual, privately. The Host sets your chat privileges.

By clicking on the drop down arrow next to Send To under the chat panel you can see who you are able to chat with. To send a message privately to anyone in the meeting, click on their name in the drop down box. You can then type your message and send it privately. Your private messages are completely private, only you and the receiver can view the message. To send a message to the entire group, select All Participants and send your message.

Annotation

If the host/presenter of the meeting has made the Annotation feature available to the attendees, the tools at the top of the screen, or in the tool box in the full screen view, will be highlighted.

The first button is a blue arrow, this is a pointer with your name

The T is for writing text on the screen

The line tool is for drawing lines. If you click on the drop down menu next to the line tool you will see that you can also use it to draw arrows.

Next is the shape tool, with the shape tool you can draw a box, an ellipse, a check mark or an X.

Next we have the highlighter. This is good for highlighting text. If you have a darker background, you can change the highlighter to a pen by clicking on the drop down arrow next to the highlighter.

The color palate allows you to change the colors of your annotations, but not your pointer

And the eraser clears your annotations.

The magnifying glass allows you to zoom in or out of the view.

Whiteboard

Think of the whiteboard as a real whiteboard as you would see it in a conference or training room. You can write on a real whiteboard with special dry erase markers. In a virtual meeting you can write on it using the previously mentioned annotation tools. If your host has not given you the privilege to use the annotation tools, you will not be able to use the whiteboard.

To share the whiteboard, select Share from the menu at the top of the screen and click on Whiteboard.

Request for Remote Control

When the host or presenter is sharing a web browser or an application, you as the attendee can request control of the application or web browser. Once you have control you can navigate through the web or input information. To request remote control, click on the green Sharing button at the top right of your screen and select Request Remote Control from the list.

The host will see your request and has the ability to give you control if warranted.

Additional Features

Polls

As a participant, you can not create or open a poll, but the host/presenter can. If the host/presenter has opened a poll for the attendees to answer, it will open on the right side of the screen, in the same panel as the participant list.

You can select the radio dial next to your answer for each question.
Some polls may have the option to type in text for an answer.
Most polls are created with a time limit. When you are answering your question, take note of the time at the top.
Once you have completed your answers click on the Submit button to complete the poll.

File Transfers

Your host/presenter may chose to make a file available for you to download. The host/presenter will use the File Transfer option and a window similar to the one below with open. To download the file, select the file and click on the Download button. You will then be able to save the file to your computer.

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