As at January 27th 2022 the hide my camera option is rolling out in public preview, so if you don’t have the feature yet, it will be coming soon to a Microsoft Teams app near you. This is going to be a great tool to help avoid distractions in meetings and virtual training events, especially when combined with the Focus on Content view.

Distractions in virtual/hybrid meetings and training courses are a big pain point, so make the most of these tools to help you get the most of the event. These features are in both Microsoft Teams meetings and webinars, not Live Events.

Hide Your Own Video

The purpose of the Hide My Camera feature is prevent you needing to have you own video visible and potentially blocking shared content too.

To hide you camera either click the … button on your video thumbnail or right click in your video thumbnail and choose Hide for me

Once hidden your video will minimised to show only the very top portion of your video. It’s not completely hidden so you do not forget you are sharing your video.

Focus on what you want to see

But it’s not just your own camera that is distracting. It is also the other meeting participants. You can pin the presenter(s) using the Pin for me feature, and then hide all other attendee cameras using the Focus on content view.

To pin a meeting participant either click the … button on their video thumbnail or right click in their video thumbnail and choose Pin for me

Then with the videos you wish to see pinned, choose Focus on Content from the view switcher in the top right of the meeting window. You will then see only the pinned participants and any the shared content.

You do not have to pin a participant to use Focus on content if you prefer to just show the shared content.

But also, …

Don’t forget that you can select anyone’s video or the shared content and make it the main image for just yourself. Simply click the video feed you wish to focus on. When you want to change to a different focus perhaps back to shared content, click that video instead. Just a simple single click on the thumbnail of what you want to see full screen.

And there is also the Spotlight feature which bring the chosen video to the main stage for everyone.

For Trainers/Presenters

If you are a trainer or a presenter, I’ve put together a slide to use at the start of your event showing participants how to use these features. Download below⬇️