12 Tips for Using Zoom to Teach a Bible Study
With more and more churches going online for worship, what about groups? If you’re a group leader and want an interactive way to teach a Bible study during the COVID-19 crisis, ZOOM is a good tool that allows people to interact online in a safe environment. You can get a free version at zoom.us
In this episode of The Sunday School Guy podcast, I share 12 tips for using ZOOM to teach an online Bible study.
Tip 1: Shorten your content – less is more! Reduce your classroom content by about 40-50%
Tip 2: Plan for discussion – people need to talk, especially these days of social isolation. A good discussion question will take 3-5 minutes for people to respond
Tip 3: Use a headset or microphone for clarity
Tip 4: Lighting should be positioned to the front or side of you, not behind you
Tip 5: Look directly at the webcam, not you’re screen, when you’re talking
Tip 6: Mute your microphone if you’re not speakingTip 7: Don’t use a Zoom virtual background unless you have a green screen. Use simple backgrounds, and make sure clutter is minimized or it will be distracting
Tip 8: Check the “chat” feature regularly
Tip 9: Use Zoom’s annotation tools to highlight or call attention to things on the screen that are particularly important
Tip 10: Use “gallery view” when you have a smaller number of attendees.
Tip 11: Share your screen when appropriate
Tip 12: Set ground rules at the beginning of your Zoom meeting