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Continuum College Instructor Resources

Guest Speakers in Zoom

There are a few things you need to know to make sure you, your Guest Speaker, and your students all have a good experience when there is a Guest Speaker joining the class: 

  1. Ensure access 
    If your Guest Speaker has a UW NetID, this is not an issue, but otherwise, read through the section on Non-UW NetID Zoom Account Access. 
  2. Ensure functionality 
    To ensure your Guest Speaker can do everything they need to do during the class session, promote them to Co-host once they have joined the meeting. 
  3. Ensure everyone is on the same page 
    • Coordinate beforehand with your Guest Speaker as to how long they will speak, if they need someone to keep track of time, and how they would prefer to handle any questions that come up while they are speaking.  
    • Make sure you or someone else is monitoring Chat for any questions/issues.  
    • Explain the plan to students, preferably the week before and then again at the start of class. 

Access: Non-UW NetID Zoom Account

Our recommendations for setting up your Zoom meetings favor restricting access as much as possible. These restrictions can cause issues if a Guest Speaker does not have a UW NetID Zoom Account. Following the steps below allow you to maintain your Zoom meeting’s security while ensuring the Guest Speaker can still join the class session: 

NOTE: If you have a meeting series, you may want edit the series rather than just in the instance in case the Guest Speaker’s schedule changes. 

  1. Check if the meeting room(s) that any Guest Speaker(s) are scheduled has Only authenticated users can join enabled.  
    NOTE: We highly recommend this setting be enabled so that students are properly identified. Having students authenticate before entering the meeting is also essential if you want to use Pre-assigned Breakout Rooms. 
  2. If Only authenticated users can join is enabled, confirm that Sign in to Zoom (UW NetID not required) is the chosen option and update if needed. 
    NOTE: The options here vary by one word, so be sure to read carefully! 
  3. Make sure that the Guest Speaker has a Zoom account. It is quick and easy for them to create a basic account with any email they prefer if they do not already have one or if there might be issues with them using that account to be a Guest Speaker in your course.  
  4. If the meeting’s waiting room is enabled, you will need to Admit your Guest Speaker.  
    Refer to UW-IT’s guide if you would like your Guest Speakers to by-pass the waiting room. We recommend being selective in allowing which domains skip the waiting room.  

Functionality: Promote Guest Speaker to Co-host 

From the Participants’ window: 

  1. Hover over the Guest Speaker’s name. 
  2. Click the More> button that appears. 
  3. Select Make Co-host from the drop-down menu that appears.  
  4. A popup will appear asking Do you want to make <the Guest Speaker> the co-host of this meeting? Click Yes. 
  5. The Guest Speaker is now able to have all functionality of the meeting.

This videos covers having Guest Speakers in Zoom:

Updated 02/17/22