Advanced Zoom: Using Slides as Virtual Background

There is a beta feature in Zoom (version 5.2.0 and higher) that is easy to miss but can make for a slightly more exciting way to share slides. When sharing your screen, try clicking on the "Advanced" tab (top center) to reveal several useful options:

There is a beta feature, "Slides as Virtual Background," that lets you choose a slide presentation. Sadly, it only supports PowerPoint presentations at the moment. This is strange because it first converts the PPTX to a PDF and then displays the PDF instead (which means your animations and slide transitions will be removed). So it seems like they should be able to support a PDF directly. I am hoping that will be added in the future.

Once you select a presentation, it will display behind you. It shows you a slide advancer (to move through your presentation). It also allows you to move yourself around the slide and re-scale your size. You can do this live, which lets you place yourself next to important features of the slide (or move yourself off of important features). By default, it scales you down and puts you in the bottom right corner.

Again, this will be much nicer when it supports PDF's in general (as opposed to just PPTX). 

CAVEAT ABOUT RECORDINGS: For now, the merged video (showing speaker on top of slides) will only record if you select to record locally. Cloud recordings will capture the unmerged view. I suspect that eventually they will implement this feature in their cloud backend and the merged view will be able to be seen there too. However, at least for now, if you do this and want it recorded, make sure that you record locally.

Zoom Virtual Background for Short/Coffee Breaks ("I'll be right back!")

You might know that Zoom has a non-verbal feedback option under the Participants list that includes a "need a break." You could use this to indicate when you have stepped away, but it is intended to indicate to the speaker that you are requesting a break.

So what is an option to indicate to everyone that you have stepped away and aren't just having video problems? One option is to create a virtual background that includes some status signage (or, alternatively, you can make the signage part of your profile picture that shows when your camera is off). Here is an image I put behind me to indicate to others that I've stepped away very briefly and will be back soon.

You can download and use the image above. You can also download the PowerPoint version so you can make edits to it. Here I am with my virtual background behind me. Of course, normally I would only put this up when I was out of the room. :-)

Another option is to print out a tiny version of the image above and hang it in front of your camera. :-)

UPDATE: Another option for this is to combine Zoom with a virtual camera from mmHmm. mmHmm has "Be right back" options that you can quickly switch on and off with far fewer steps than raw Zoom.