Tips for Using Zoom Breakout Rooms (Demo Included)

I'm sharing my top tips for using Zoom breakout rooms, including a demo of how to set up Zoom breakout rooms and adjust the settings.
0:00 Intro
0:59 Why Use Zoom Breakout Rooms?
5:38 Zoom Breakout Rooms Demonstration
16:54 Zoom Breakout Rooms Considerations
19:04 Pre-Assign Zoom Breakout Rooms
🙌 Big thank you to my lovely volunteers:
Jeff Bull
/ @jeffbulltech
Ejnar Riis Hansen
/ @cslivedk
Stephan Kruger
www.howaboutthis.co.za
Pam Elliott
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[@materuatamarua3979]

A thorough run through the break out function. Extremely helpful. I’ve subscribed as a result. Looking forward to more content.

[@capoleadershipconsulting6893]

This is a wonderful overview of this feature. Complete and efficient. Well done!

[@angelasterk]

So helpful! Thank you for the simple, straight forward approach done in a timely manner as well!!

[@fattsmcgee5686]

Hey Cat! I'm a facilitator for a continuing education session using breakout rooms next week. When I searched for "zoom breakout rooms" it suggested your video. I guess it knew it would want to hear what you had to say! Great video. Thanks!

[@chortheatre]

You're my go to person for information on working Zoom! Thank you!

[@gograndma56]

Awesome, clear, & helpful video. Thanks!

[@kellylee7178]

Thank you so much for explaining the purposes that a Zoom breakout room serves. It has helped me see the possibility of creating a more engaging lesson. The step by step guide in the video is really helpful!

[@kimberlykeese9104]

Great presentation! I was looking for detailed info on the setting of breakout room duration and the timer for the closing of the rooms. I found it here! The tips on creating a more engaging zoom session was very welcome!

[@meghajindal]

Answered all my questions on breakout rooms and then some. Thanks a lot !

[@woodandwire]

One of the best explanations I've viewed. Excellent job Cat!

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stephaniekiggwe]

Wow! This was super helpful. Thank you so much.

[@pjoyce1770]

Nicely done, Cat! Good camera poise, well spoken and excellent visuals to show how to actually set up a breakout room. Well done.

[@CatMulvihill]

Thank you, Peggy!

[@technomonk47]

This is a wonderful presentation, Cat. Thanks!

[@tonymaxey2274]

Very helpful. Thank you so much.

[@shay7289]

Thanks for this video, it really made plenty of sense and really did help me.

[@CPACCPROF]

Excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@LXiao33]

excellent demo! Thank you so much!

[@samespino1299]

im going to discuss this thing on Friday... thanks for the refresh!

[@robertmcneil3665]

Another great reason for using breakout rooms is one of the basic tenants of group dynamics. The norms that I created in the small breakouts, (for example, participation, trust building, listening, disclosure, and feedback), tend to carry over to the large group. This makes facilitating your plenary session much easier.

[@psefisteveybanzon6460]

Thank you Cat for this video. It is very informative.

[@diongamaboransing]

Very informative video. Thank you so much.

[@detourbooksfoundintranslat1115]

Thanks so much Cat. I've looked at many video tutorials on zoom BORs and yours is by far they most comprehensible. Really appreciate your work here.

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful for you!

[@reginal.thomas3709]

Oh my gosh, thank you so much for this video! I started a virtual book club and 50 people signed up for the first discussion! I have no clue what I'm doing! I want to make sure humans get the most out of the experience!

[@jeanchan2723]

It's my first time watching you. I like your speed, voice and clarify.

[@paulinaifopo3931]

Thank you so much. This is very helpful.

[@allensmithrealtor8240]

Perfect timing. Have an upcoming project that might involve Zoom rooms and needed this info. Thanks.

[@CatMulvihill]

That's great!

[@magic5230]

You are awesome.....simply a great presentation. Your beautiful smile during presentation makes viewer have pleasant experience of listening...Thanks

[@paulinegibbons5573]

Really informative- many thanks

[@Maverick55555]

Fantastic lesson Cat!

[@debmalaman]

Thank you so much for making this video! It has helped me tremendously!

[@CatMulvihill]

I'm so glad 😊

[@mohammedielasri8768]

Very helpful! Thank you.

[@HeatherRamirez]

Best Zoom tutorial ever! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@akirasmussen5218]

Excellent, thank you!

[@BobZimmerer]

well done - very good live demo too!

[@sophiadavis6981]

Excellent video. Thanks

[@paulthomas281]

Excellent tutorial!

[@dfguardian524]

Hi Cat, this is the BEST Breakout Room Tutorial!! And you diminished the apprehension! Thanks so much! I subscribed to your KZbin channel.

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful!

[@davecadman2502]

Very helpful. Thanks for sharing. Good job to your participants as well haha. They were impeccably behaved.

[@carolcaranese5279]

Wonderful! Thank you.

[@elisabettafavero]

thanks for great tips!

[@leonetranquillo7005]

It was a good show. I need to get in touch with it. Well done.

[@stephenstill9487]

very engaging. thanks much. I use breakouts all the time in University - but good to get more context.

[@teamdanielacademy6164]

This was GREAT!

[@user-sf7dn6vo8f]

Excellent video!

[@iMaxN]

Thanks! A really helpful video when you are planning to use these rooms!

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful! There's so much potential!

[@iMaxN]

@@CatMulvihill absolutely! I‘m just planning some courses for my voluntary fire dept. We need more engagement and I think theses rooms can help with this... Keep on going, really good videos!

[@PeopleWorks]

Excellent, Thanks so much

[@hadagar]

very useful, thank you very much, and thanks to your friends too :)

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad you found it helpful 😊

[@wendyaustin4437]

This was so helpful!!!

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad to hear it 😊

[@bafatini1]

Many thanks, Cheers!!

[@jeffersonmccoy]

this is great. thank you so much

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful!

[@johnjohnson2394]

You have great friends!

[@kishkanani002]

Thank you, I learned a lot and it was very well presented.

[@T88jimlee]

Great presentation. I like the lighting, your graphics, etc. Do you offer a class?

[@nickie2011]

soooo useful!

[@rajeshnair8200]

your video is really helpful. thank a lot. small request if their is any video related to more detail or shortcut way to use zoom breakout rooms kindly help us with that too.

[@dr.ahmadtahlak]

Well presented step by step 👍

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad you liked it

[@dr.ahmadtahlak]

@@CatMulvihill you practice what you teach 👍🏻😃

[@baselshahin1268]

Thank you cat, this is great! Would you share a website or a source that I can get ideas for online training activities for various soft skills courses?

[@mulbizcal]

Great Idea for a "Tech Check" room! That might be super useful! Should maybe be mandatory for one's meetings!! There is always 1 or 2 that need it! thx

[@CatMulvihill]

There are absolutely some meetings that should have this!

[@fitgadget]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge. This was very helpful to me. Now I will definitely use breakout rooms. This is so powerful.

[@CatMulvihill]

Glad it was helpful!

[@berkeyfamily9828]

Can hosts and co-hosts who may be conducting in the beak out rooms enable a focus mode or spotlight of their own video/audio that others can focus on without the distraction of others? For instance, if an organization wants to send people to training rooms where specific instructions and teaching is given for different leadership roles, then they reassemble afterwards as one body in the main session?

[@stephan-kruger]

Thanks, this was really helpful. I also like the participants... 😜 This feature of Zoom is really powerful and I found that a lot of people don’t even know that it exists. Thank you for doing this demo Cat. I am sure it will give a lot of people something to think about for their next workshop meeting.

[@CatMulvihill]

Thanks Stephan for the feedback & for helping me out!

[@stephan-kruger]

@@CatMulvihill It’s a pleasure. Was fun. 😁

[@SusanBame]

Struggled with "breakout room" settings after watching the Zoom video on how to do breakout rooms. THIS video is VERY helpful, much more helpful than the Zoom video. Now I see how to "join" the meetings as host, how to set the timers, all kinds of stuff I didnʻt know how to do. THANK YOU for creating this video.

[@CatMulvihill]

I'm so glad this was helpful to you!!

[@kaminisakore2545]

Thanks

[@maryrasley1378]

May I ask what software product you used to record your video with the content showing on the sides?

[@philipmulindwa9722]

thanks. Are the analytics to show how many participants went into a particular room ?

[@DeshmukhPramod]

Hi, Thank you for creating video, and explaining in detail. My requirement is within a breakout room, a video need to start automatically without teacher being present. Video could be in cloud -in Zoom account storage, KZbin, share drive etc. is it possible, if yes how?

[@ellin3399]

Thanks you !,My idea is to keep a small room open and pass participants back and forth to the main one. What happens is that I cannot return a participant to the principal by forcing the pass, but a message appears inviting him to leave. Same way that I can assign a participant to a break room, is there a way to force him back to the main immediately ... without the participant having to do anything?

[@marianemkingston7236]

Great video! Thank you for the detailed information. I have a question for you: We are hosting a virtual speed relationship event at work where 80 people will join and we would pair them in groups of 2 for 10 minutes and repeat it for 4 times, where one person gets to know 4 other new colleagues. By using the automatic breakout room assignment, how would you recommend going about if Zoom pairs one person with the same person twice? Would you ask that participants leave the room if that happens? Or raise their hand so I can manually switch people around?

[@adrianajoy7695]

I have a similar question. I would like each participant to spend a few minutes in a break out room with every person in the meeting. not sure how to go about the rotation. any ideas? 🙂

[@bradcalhoun5931]

You are a gift! Your video answered Breakout Room management questions I've had for weeks. For example, hovering over the number of participants in a breakout room that toggles to "join" for the host to visit. So simple, but a mystery until you demonstrated. THANK YOU!!!

[@CatMulvihill]

So glad it helped you!

[@Gee4blue]

Hi is there a way to assign a facilitator for each room and then allow participants to choose a room?

[@WWEShare254]

Great video. Does everyone in a breakout have the same Zoom features, eg, screen share, etc. Is there a way to assign a moderator/panelist to a breakout and will they have more controls such as muting everyone, shutting off webcams, etc? What I want to do is at the conclusion of a Zoom webinar, put a Zoom meeting link into the chat and have those from the webinar who want to join a Zoom meeting to attend some breakouts. Is this possible?

[@CatMulvihill]

Yes, there are controls in breakout rooms, like the chat and screen share. You can assign co-hosts to breakout rooms to help you moderate the rooms and record, etc. I recommend running a test call with co-hosts to confirm what they can and cannot do in the breakout rooms. And, I don't see why you couldn't share a link to a meeting at the end of a webinar. It's a nice option to invite people who want to engage more!

[@kkyi20]

Would all the participants be assigned to the same breakout rooms in the following meetings? Or does the host have to assign breakout rooms every time?

[@jeromelanger3074]

Thoughtful and informative presentation. Thanks for making it available.

[@dogsattheirbest]

I would like to know how to have a co-host who can record the break out room they are in, would you have a presentation about that ? Thanks

[@elizabethchapin8303]

Elizabeth Chapin I have 5 people, each in a different breakout room and want to bring them back to my meeting at "different" times individually, how would I do that? I'm having trouble finding that information. Thanks.

[@christinelaporte7880]

Can one set up the rooms in advance of the meeting?

[@cmejerk]

Is it possible to make breakout-rooms in advance and let the meeting start without host and the participants can themselves go to breakout-rooms?

[@timmaher13]

Great help. How do I setup a breakout room where participants can go back and forth between the main room and breakout room? Right now when people come back to main room after going to breakout room they have to stay in main room. Confused.....

[@CatMulvihill]

You want to change the Breakout Room settings to allow participants to choose their own breakout rooms and be able to leave the rooms at any time.

[@timmaher13]

@@CatMulvihill thank you but I don't understand your reply. It is setup for them to choose to go to the breakout room but if they return to the main room after being in the breakout room they cannot, yet again, go back to the breakout room. I'm not sure there is a fix to this. Thanks again.

[@tanyagroenewald4985]

Can i add another room once rooms are already created

[@yemmabarsanti3371]

A question. When a person leaves a breakout room - say Breakout Room 2 - I cannot send them back them to that room. I can only send to Breakout Rooms 1,3 and 4. Not 2 where their partner is waiting.

[@nicodoodeman7579]

Great presentation. Thanks. Quick question. can you use Polls in Breakout Rooms?

[@pastorterrybrown9566]

Good morning I really need your help

[@RodneyVallo]

If you are recording the session and create say 2 break out room will the session still be recorded? If so, will it be the breakout room the host who hit record is in?

[@CatMulvihill]

The breakout rooms will not be recorded. The only way to do this is having individuals assigned to the rooms to record locally.

[@philipmulindwa9722]

How am i able to engage the participants?

[@donnafletcher5386]

I liked the video, but it didn't tell me once I have a Zoom meeting going how I assigned their names. Do I go to Zoom's contacts and add them and once I select their email address it will pop up with their name, or do I just type in the name they have listed on their window and a certain place? Please help me asap cause I have a meeting at 7pm EST today. Thanks in advance.

[@CatMulvihill]

Everyone in the call will show up on the breakout rooms list. You are not adding them manually.

[@studio-mosaic7820]

Great job but I do have.a question - if I put groups into breakout rooms, bring them back to the main room and then send them out to breakout rooms again with auto assignments, will it mix up the groups so they aren't the same group every 15 minutes or so?

[@CatMulvihill]

You can keep the breakout rooms the same! Simply re-open the rooms. They will only re-shuffle if you click re-create.

[@studio-mosaic7820]

@@CatMulvihill Thanks, but I wanted each of them to go to different rooms the second and third times so they can visit with different people each time.....I may have 30 people...trying to make it easy on myself :)

[@CatMulvihill]

@@studio-mosaic7820 Then definitely re-create the rooms each time. It will mix up the groups nicely. That's what I do most of the time.

[@lalithamurthy2392]

Hay cat can u put a video 9n how to make break out room

[@sharonmcgregor1010]

How do you set the screen so that when you are on a zoom meeting with just 1 person, they are in full screen & you are just small in the corner and not showing as side by side?

[@adrianajoy7695]

speaker view?

[@Me_Or]

What the different Breakout room and Zoom Room?

[@CoachAkerman]

Great walkthrough. You might want to set your primary camera to manual focus. It tends to micrblur from time to time.

[@CatMulvihill]

Thank you! I have considered the manual focus, but always think about it at the wrong times 😝 I should probably put it in my calendar so I don't keep forgetting.

[@juliarastvorova6501]

I can't see htis option on the menu? only share the screen

[@daigakuus1382]

Is it possible as the host that I can set the breakout room "Ask For Help" feature to make an audible chime when someone in the breakout room asks for help? Currently, when someone clicks on the "Ask For Help" button in a breakout room, it just shows as text on the screen. I'd like to be able to do other work in my office and not have to constantly look at the screen to see if there is a question or not. Thanks in advance.

[@CatMulvihill]

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of that option. It does sound like a good feature request or question for Zoom. I think you bring up a great point, and many Zoom hosts would appreciate that audible feature.

[@daigakuus1382]

@@CatMulvihill Thanks for answering. I'll approach Zoom to request the feature.

[@abeloualihind2537]

Hello, Can I share files in each breakout room? I have students working in pairs and each pair had a specific file to share with which other pairs are not supposed to see, is there any method?

[@CatMulvihill]

Unfortunately, I do not know of an easy way to do that.

[@noryunus2262]

I think students in the rooms can share a file within their respective rooms. We can set the share screen to “Multiple participants can share simultaneously”

[@samabhurai3082]

Thanks much. helpful. you're beautiful too... bonus!!

[@regihamp0206]

This is a great tutorial, however is there a way to set up rooms in advance of the meeting and save them for reoccurring meeting?

[@NurAlam-ws6vl]

love you mem

[@pastorterrybrown9566]

Please help me, I want to make better Bible study presentations through Zoom to KZbin with Ecamm

[@cardinalsantosmedicalcenter]

Can I use breakout rooms in webinars?

[@CatMulvihill]

No, the Zoom webinar option does not include breakout rooms. You can promote participants to panelists if you want to bring them on camera, but not split them into groups.

[@abdullahk8691]

Why is your zoom meeting so clear?

[@juanalarcon6449]

The most beautiful woman in the whole internet. I am in love