Dyad Change-overs

When in a dyad, you get 4 turns at being the contemplating-communicating partner, and 4 turns at being the listening partner.

Each ‘turn’ lasts 5 minutes. Then you say ‘Thank you’ and switch roles. The whole dyad lasts 40 minutes.

In Zoom dyads, the 5-minute change-overs need to be self-managed, either by you or your dyad partner. 

The simplest way to manage change-overs is for one of you to set a clock timer to go off every five minutes.

When it’s time to change over, just do a hand signal and/or say “That’s five minutes.”

(The less experienced among you will probably want to leave all this to more experienced participants, which is perfectly fine.)

The Gong Timer

A more automatic way to manage change-over times is to play the usual "Gong Timer" recording used on Enlightenment Intensives.

The snag is, Zoom automatically filters out all sounds other than human voices! That means, only the one playing it can hear it.

However, there are simple ways to override that. These are explained below. But first — how to get hold of the gong timer itself?

The Gong Timer Audio File

The gong-timer recording used on Enlightenment Intensives is available to download as a digital file (MP3 format) from the link below:

• Gong Timer MP3

You can play this with any audio app, such as QuickTime.

Sharing the Gong Sounds

Once you have the audio file ready to play, the way to share the gong sounds with your dyad partners depends on whether you are using Zoom on a computer or on a mobile device.

Sharing audio when using Zoom on a computer

Once you're moved into a Zoom breakout room to start a new dyad...

1. Click the green "Share Screen" option at the bottom of your Zoom screen.

2. This brings up a bunch of "Basic" sharing options. However, you should click on the "Advanced" options tab.

3. Select the "Computer Audio" option, and then click the “Share” button.

This should enable the sound of your Gong Timer (playing on your computer) to be heard by your dyad partner.

Sharing audio when using Zoom on a mobile device

This is a two-step process:

1. First, you select an option to not filter out background sounds via the general app settings (you only need to do this once).

2. Second, you must manually enable this option whenever you want to use it.

Here are those two steps:

STEP 1:

Changing the general app settings

In the app's overall settings, under “Audio”, there’s an option called "Original sound". This overrides the Zoom setting that normally filters out all background sounds.

1. Go to your app's settings via the "•••"/"More" button.

2. Under the SETTINGS options, click "Audio".

3. Under the AUDIO options, select "Original audio".

That's a general settings change that makes audio sharing possible. The next step is to switch it ON whenever you want to use it in a dyad.

STEP 2:

MANUALLY ACTIVATING "ORIGINAL AUDIO" FOR A DYAD 

Even though you’ve selected “original audio” in the settings, it’s still disabled by default. You have to manually enable it whenever you actually want to use it (to share the gong sounds).

You should do this as soon as you enter a breakout room for a dyad. 

• Once you're been moved into a breakout room to start a new dyad, click the "•••"/"More" button on your Zoom screen.

• Click "Enable Original Sound". You should see something like “Original sound on” appearing in a corner of your screen.

That's it (hopefully). This enables you to share the sound of the Gong Timer playing on your device with your dyad partner.

• P.S. Don't forget to check your Gong Timer’s volume beforehand!