Zoom Meeting Etiquette: The Complete Guide for 2025

Nobody teaches you this

You probably had some training on giving presentations. But nobody ever said "here's how to not embarrass yourself on a Zoom call." So here's what I've learned from years of doing this.

Before the meeting

Clean your screen

Number one thing people get wrong. You share your screen and there's files everywhere, personal wallpaper, Slack notifications sliding in, and 40 browser tabs open.

I use QuickPresent for this. Hides icons, minimizes apps, mutes audio, blocks notifications, swaps wallpaper. Takes 1 second. If you screen share regularly, you need something like this.

Join early

1-2 minutes before. Check your mic, check your camera. Nobody wants to spend the first 3 minutes of a meeting saying "can you hear me? how about now? what about now?"

Close what you don't need

Even if you're not sharing your screen, close unnecessary apps. Frees up RAM so Zoom runs smoother, and removes distractions for you.

During the meeting

Stay muted when you're not talking. Background noise is annoying for everyone.

Look at your camera when talking, not at the person's face on screen. Feels weird. But to them it looks like eye contact. Big difference.

Drop links in chat instead of trying to spell out URLs verbally. Same with action items.

Share specific windows when you can, not your whole screen. If a notification sneaks through, nobody sees it. But if you need to switch between apps, you'll need whole-screen sharing, which is why having QuickPresent running matters.

Screen sharing do's and don'ts

Do: clean your desktop, close personal tabs, use presenter view for slides, zoom in on small text.

Don't: share your whole screen when you only need one app, leave personal chats visible, forget to stop sharing when you're done, type passwords while sharing.

After the meeting

Send a quick follow-up with what was discussed and next steps. Takes 2 minutes and makes you look organized.

If you used QuickPresent, toggle it off. Apps, icons, wallpaper, notifications all come back.

Video setup stuff

Lighting: face a window if you can. If not, a cheap ring light works. Don't sit with a bright window behind you.

Background: clean wall or bookshelf. Virtual backgrounds work in a pinch but a real clean background always looks better.

Camera: eye level or slightly above. Nobody wants to look up your nose. Stack some books under your laptop if needed.

Audio: use headphones with a mic. Even basic AirPods sound better than laptop mics.

That's basically it

Clean screen, good audio, camera on when appropriate, mute when not talking. 90% of meeting etiquette in 2025.

The screen part is the easiest to fix. QuickPresent handles it.

Try QuickPresent free →

Keep reading

QuickPresent is available for Mac and Windows. See pricing · Setup guide