To help you get the most from my online Pilates classes, a few tips…

WiFi Signal

First, try and have the device you’re using to access the class as near to the router as possible.  The router should face in towards the centre of the room.  Next, remove/turn off any cordless devices nearby, e.g. phones, baby monitors and any other devices that use a WiFi signal.  This will ensure you have the best WiFi signal you can get.

Better still would be to connect to the router via an ethernet cable.  You can ask your internet provider if they can provide one (Virgin Media sent me one without charge) or alternatively they are readily available to buy from a variety of retailers that stock computer accessories.

Finally, shutdown all the other apps etc that you may have running in the background so that all your device’s resource is concentrated on running Zoom as efficiently as possible. It also stops you being distracted during the class by notifications etc popping up.

Audio

I use an external USB mic during my online Pilates classes.  To optimise the sound quality still further I’d recommend you change the Zoom audio settings on your device.  It’s very easy to do.

If you use the Zoom app on your tablet or phone, simply click the gear icon on the home page to access the ‘Settings’ page…

…then scroll down and make sure the ‘Use Original Sound’ button is switched on…

That’s it.  You’re now all set to hear me without any noise suppression, which can make the audio signal chop in and out.  Noise suppression is helpful in a busy office environment where there is a lot of background noise but not necessary in an online Pilates class at home setting.

If you use a laptop or desktop, the above process is very similar plus you have a few more advanced setting options which will enhance the audio even further. You can make these changes before the class as follows…

First, open up Zoom Client, go to the home page and click on the gear icon top right to access the ‘Settings’ page…

On the ‘Settings’ page, select ‘Audio’ and uncheck the box next to ‘Automatically adjust microphone volume.’  This now allows you to control the volume of your speakers and mic by moving the sliders…

On the same ‘Audio Settings’ page, click the Advanced button bottom right, which brings up this screen…

Check the box next to ‘Show in-meeting option to ‘Enable Original Sound’ from microphone.’  Then in the ‘Audio Processing’ section of this page, disable the ‘Suppress Persistent Background Noise’ and ‘Suppress Intermittent Background Noise’…

You can also make the above changes after you’ve joined the online class in the 5-10 minutes before we begin.  In the bottom left of the screen next to the mic icon is an arrow.  Click it and you can see ‘Audio settings’ at the bottom of the list.  Click this and it brings up the screens shown above so you can make the changes I’ve described.

Speakers

To further enhance the sound quality during my online classes, you might want to use external USB speakers.  Almost any on the market will give you better quality sound than the internal speakers in your device.  I have the Creative Pebble Plus 2.1 Speaker Set –  not too expensive, very good sound quality and nice design.

Video

Finally, I use a webcam instead of the internal camera on my laptop so the quality of the images should be top notch.

Hope that helps.  See you live online in class soon.