Mute or unmute audio

I need to mute all participants for the first 15 minutes of the training, but allow unmuting when I call on someone. Mute everyone on entry, keep my audio unmuted, and unmute James and Nora when they present. Confirm the mute status before the guest speaker starts at 9:15.

Before sending the invite to the hiring panel, make the audio controls reviewer-friendly: remind panelists their mics default to muted on entry, highlight how to unmute for candidate questions, and flag common mic problems (low gain, webcam mic) so panelists can fix them beforehand.

I unmuted to ask a question in the demo and nobody responded; I later learned people never heard me. I’m on a panel with three recruiters and a candidate; I’m afraid my mic is routing to the wrong device or is muted at the OS level. I don’t know whether to interrupt to troubleshoot or type in chat. What likely caused this and what’s the fastest, least disruptive fix during the call?

In every hiring panel, candidates and panelists join muted or using laptop mics that sound distant. It drags the session, costs rapport, and makes technical feedback unreliable. What small routine change or instruction before meetings will reduce these audio problems and speed auditions?