Using Q and A as the Zoom webinar host (2024)

A webinar’s question-and-answer (Q&A) feature allows attendees to ask questions during the webinar, and it also gives the panelists, co-hosts, and host the opportunity to respond to the questions raised by the audience. Participants have the option to answer each other’s questions and upvote them if they wish.

It is possible to generate a Q&A report after your webinar has ended so that you can analyze the information in more detail.

Prerequisites for Q&A

• Add-on for webinars

Note: A host or panelist needs to view Q&A with version 5.8.6 or higher to be able to sort submitted questions by upvotes or most recent.

How to enable Q&A

Account

For all members of your organization to be able to use the Q&A feature, you need to follow these steps:

1. If you are an admin or owner of an account with the privilege to edit account settings, then sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. You can access Account Settings by clicking Account Management in the navigation panel.
3. To access the Meetings tab, select the Meetings option.
4. Click the Q&A in webinar toggle under the Meeting (Advanced) section to enable or disable it under the In Meeting (Advanced) section.
5. To verify the changes made to the feature, click Enable or Disable in the verification dialog that appears.
6. Please click the lock icon, and then click Lock to confirm that you want this setting to be compulsory for all users in your account, if you wish the setting to be mandatory.

Group

For a group of users to enable or disable the Q&A feature, follow these steps:

1. Log in to the Zoom website as an administrator so you are able to edit groups under your account.
2. Click on the User Management tab in the navigation menu and then click on the Group Management tab.
3. In the list of groups, click on the name of the group that is applicable to you.
4. Go to the Meetings tab and click on it.
5. To enable or disable the Q&A in webinar option in the Meeting (Advanced) section, click the toggle next to the Q&A in webinar button.
6. Click on Enable or Disable if a verification dialog appears to determine if the change has been made.
   Note: You may have to change the option at the account level if it is grayed out, as this means that it has been locked at that level and is not accessible.
7. The setting can be made mandatory for all users within the group by clicking on the lock icon at the top, and then clicking the Lock button to confirm that this setting is mandatory for all users in the group.

User

For your own use, you can enable or disable the Q&A feature by following the steps below:

1. Using the Zoom web portal, sign in to your account.
2. You can access the Settings by clicking the Settings button in the navigation panel.
3. Select the Meeting tab on the left-hand side of the screen.
4. It can be enabled or disabled by clicking the Q&A in webinar toggle under the In Meeting (Advanced) section.
5. The change will be verified by clicking Enable or Disable if a verification dialog appears.
   Note: It is possible to lock either the group or the account level account option if the option is grayed out. Your Zoom administrator will be able to assist you with this.

Scheduled Webinars

1. Log into the Zoom web portal by entering your username and password.
2. On the left side of the page, click Webinars.
3. A new webinar can be scheduled or an existing webinar can be edited.
4. Check the Q&A option under the Webinar Options section.
   Note: Please contact your Zoom administrator if the option isn’t available or if it has been disabled at the Account level, which means it has been disabled at the Account level.
5. The schedule can be viewed by clicking the Schedule button.

How to edit Q&A options

1. Log in to the Zoom web portal by entering your email address and password.
2. Click on the Webinars tab.
3. Your webinar topic can be found by clicking on it.
4. Click on the Q&A tab at the bottom of the page once you have scrolled to the bottom.
5. The following settings can be adjusted by clicking the Edit button:
   • Allow anonymous questions: In order to allow attendees to submit questions to the host, co-host, and panelists without providing their names to them, be sure to check this option.
   • Allow attendees to view: You can choose to show attended questions only to those who have answered them or to show all of the questions to those who have not answered them.
   • • It is possible for you to enable the following options in order to allow the attendees to see all questions during your meeting if you decide to allow them to view all the questions:
     • Attendees can upvote: In addition to viewing the submitted questions, attendees are also able to vote on questions that are important to them. If the host and co-hosts are aware of questions that more attendees would like answered, it can help them point them out to the host and co-hosts.
     • Attendees can comment: All questions submitted by attendees can be viewed and additional comments can be added by attendees.
6. Save the file by clicking on the Save button.

How to manage Q&A during a webinar

Windows |macOS

How to answer questions

1. If you are the host, co-host, or a panelist, you will be able to view all submitted questions via the Q and A tab in the webinar controls. There will be an indication next to the attendee’s name that indicates that they are external to the account when they submit questions.There is a default sorting order for questions, with the most recent ones appearing at the bottom of the list, according to its date.
2. To switch between sorting options, click on the Default View dropdown menu to the left of the table:
   • Most Upvotes: A question submitted by an attendee will be sorted according to how many upvotes it receives from other attendees.
   • Most Recent: Submitted questions are listed in chronological order by the time they were submitted, with the most recent questions appearing at the top of the list.
   • Note: For the host or panelists to sort submitted questions by upvotes or most recent, they must be viewing Q&A with a version of 5.8.6 or higher.
3. The first thing you need to do is to find the question you would like to answer.
   
   • During the webinar, you will be able to answer the question out loud by clicking the Answer Live button.
   • Type your answer to the attendee by clicking on the Type Answer button.
     Click the Send button after you have typed your answer.
     Note: The questions will still appear in the Open list if you have allowed attendees to comment on them; if you have allowed attendees to comment on the questions, then the questions will still appear in the list and can still be responded to.
   • If you would like to answer a question privately to the attendee only, you can check the Answer Privately box before clicking Send.

How to dismiss questions

1. Click the Q&A button in the webinar controls when you are the host, co-host, or panelist.
2. Click the Dismiss button next to the question you would like to dismiss, then hover over it to dismiss it.

How to reopen dismissed questions

1. In the webinar controls, as the host or co-host, or as a panelist, you will have the option to click Q&A.
2. You will find the Dismissed tab on the left side of the screen.
3. Reopen a question by finding the question you would like to reopen and clicking Reopen Question next to it.

Upvoted Q&A

Clicking the thumbs up icon on a question will allow you to upvote the question.

How to change Q&A settings during a live webinar

1. When you are in the webinar control panel, click Q&A.
2. You can open the settings window by clicking on the gear icon in the top-right corner of the Q&A window.
   
   • Allow anonymous questions: The names of the attendees are not displayed next to the questions.
   • Answered questions only: There is only a list of questions that have been answered.
   • All questions: A list of answered questions is displayed as well as a list of unanswered questions.
   • • Attendees can upvote: In order to make popular questions stand out in the Q&A window, attendees can click the thumbs up button.
     • Attendees can comment: In addition to answering questions, all attendees are welcome to leave a comment.

Linux

How to answer questions

1. In the webinar controls, you have the option of clicking on the Q&A link in order to view all the questions and answers that have been submitted. A question submitted by an attendee that is not affiliated with the account will be indicated by (Guest) next to his or her name.Questions are sorted by date of posting by default, with the newest questions being shown at the bottom of the list.
2. To switch between different sorting options, click the Default View dropdown menu at the top of the page:
   • Most Upvotes: In order to sort the submitted questions, the number of upvotes received by attendees is taken into account.
   • Most Recent: The submissions are sorted according to the date they were submitted, and the most recent are at the top of the list, with the oldest at the bottom.
   • Note: In order for the host or panelists to sort submitted questions by upvotes or most recent, you must have version 5.8.6 or higher of the Q&A program installed on your computer.
3. If you would like to answer a question, you will need to find it.
   • When you click Answer Live during the webinar, you will have the opportunity to answer the question aloud.
   • Please click on Answer by Text if you would like to provide your answer by text to the attendee.
     Click on the Send button to send your answer once you have typed it.
     Note: The questions will still appear in the Open list of questions if you allow attendees to leave comments on the questions, and you will still have the opportunity to answer the question, even if the question has been answered by other attendees.
   • In order to reply privately to the attendee only, please check the Answer Privately checkbox before clicking Send.

How to change Q&A settings during a live webinar

1. You can open the Q&A window by clicking on Q&A in the webinar controls at the bottom of the Zoom window by clicking on the Q&A button.
2. You can open the settings window by clicking the gear icon at the top right-hand corner of the Q&A window.
   
   • Allow anonymous questions: It is not possible to see the names of attendees next to the questions.
   • Answered questions only: It is only displayed the questions that have been answered.
   • All questions: A list of answered questions is displayed, as well as a list of unanswered questions.
   • • Attendees can upvote: It is possible for attendees to thumb up questions in order to bring them to the top of the Q&A window by clicking the thumbs up button.
     • Attendees can comment: You can leave a comment or answer a question if you are an attendee.

Android

How to answer questions

1. You can view all questions submitted to you by tapping Q&A in the top right corner of the screen as the host, co-host, or panelist. The (Guest) next to the name of the attendee will indicate that the question was submitted by someone external to the account.There is an option to sort the questions chronologically by default, with the most recent question being at the bottom of the list.
2. It is also possible to switch between the various sorting options by tapping the Default View dropdown menu:
   • Most Upvotes: It is sorted based on how many upvotes the questions received from attendees when they were submitted.
   • Most Recent: There is a sorted list of submitted questions by the date they were submitted, with the most recent at the top, sorted by the time they were submitted.
   • Note: Q&A version 5.8.6 or higher is required for the host or panelists to sort submitted questions by upvotes or by most recent if they wish to sort questions by upvotes.
3. Find the question that you are interested in answering and click on it.
   
   • By tapping Answer Live during the webinar, you will be able to answer the question out loud.
   • To type your answer out for the attendee, tap the Answer by Text tab.
     Once you have typed your answer, you will need to tap on the Send button.
     Note: You can allow attendees to comment on your questions as long as they do not post a response on the Open list. Although attendees are allowed to comment on the questions, the questions will still appear in the Open list for you to respond to.
   • In order to answer to only the attendee, please check the Private Answer box before you click Send, if you wish to answer only to the attendee.

How to dismiss questions

1. Whether you are the host or an alternative host, you can start a webinar.
2. Click on Q&A in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. If you want to dismiss a question, hold down on the question for a moment until you see the options appear.
4. Then tap the Dismiss or Delete button.
   Note: It is not possible to reopen questions that have been deleted.

How to reopen dismissed questions

1. Whether you are the host or an alternative host, you can start a webinar.
2. In the upper right corner, tap Q&A to view the questions and answers.
3. The Dismissed tab will appear when you tap it.
4. You will be able to reopen a particular question by holding down on it until the options appear.
5. Reopen the application by tapping on the Reopen button.

Upvoted Q&A

When you tap the thumbs up on a question, you will be able to upvote it.

How to change Q&A settings during a live webinar

1. Tap the Q&A icon located at the top of the Zoom window to open the Q&A window located within the webinar controls.
2. The gear wheel icon is located in the top-right corner of the Q&A window. Simply tap it to access the following:
   • Allow anonymous questions: It is not possible to see the names of the attendees next to the questions.
   • The following information should be made available to attendees:
     • Answered questions only: You will only be able to see questions that have been answered.
     • All questions: A list of answered questions is displayed in addition to a list of unanswered questions.
   • Attendees can upvote: If attendees place a thumbs up on a question that they think is important, it will be pushed to the top of the question and answer window.
   • Attendees can comment: All attendees have the option of answering questions or leaving comments during the meeting.

iOS

How to answer questions

1. As the host, co-host, or panelist, tapQ&Ain the top-right corner to view all submitted questions. Questions submitted by attendees external to the account will be indicated by(Guest)next to their name. By default, questions are sorted chronologically, with the most recent at the bottom of the list.
2. (Optional) Tap theDefaultViewdropdown to switch between sorting options:
   • Most Upvotes: Submitted questions are sorted by the number of upvotes received by attendees.
   • Most Recent: Submitted questions are sorted by their submission time, with the most recent at the top of the list.
     Note: Sorting submitted questions by upvotes or most recent requires the host or panelists to view Q&A with version5.8.6or higher.
3. Find the question you would like to answer.
   
   • TapAnswer Liveto answer the question out loud during the webinar.
   • TapAnswer by Textto type out your answer for the attendee.
     Type your answer and tapSend.
     Note: If you allow attendees to comment on questions, the questions will still appear in theOpenlist and can be responded to, even if an attendee has commented on the question.
   • (Optional) CheckAnswer Privatelybefore clicking send, if you would like to answer to the attendee only.

How to dismiss questions

1. Start a webinar as the host or alternative host.
2. TapQ&Ain the top-right corner.
3. Hold down on the question you want to dismiss until the options appear.
4. TapDismissorDelete.
   Note: Deleted questions cannot be reopened.

How to reopen dismissed questions

1. Start a webinar as the hostor alternative host.
2. TapQ&Ain the top-right corner.
3. Tap theDismissedtab.
4. TapReopen.

Upvoted Q&A

You can upvote a question by tapping the thumbs up.

How to change Q&A settings during a live webinar

1. In the webinar controls at the top of the Zoom window, tap theQ&Aicon.
2. In the top-right corner of the Q&A window, click the gear wheel icon:
   • Allow anonymous questions: attendees’ names do not appear next to the questions.
   • Allow attendees to view:
     • Answered questions only: only answered questions are displayed.
     • All questions: answered questions and questions that haven’t been answered are displayed.
   • Attendees can upvote: attendees can click thethumbs upbutton to bring popular questions to the top of the Q&A window.
   • Attendees can comment: all attendees can answer questions or leave a comment.