Director Mode for Zoom — Setup Guide

Director Mode brings your Workhorse run-of-show into the Zoom meeting itself, automatically spotlighting whoever is scheduled to speak. This guide covers adding, using, and removing the app.

Requirements

• An active Workhorse account (Director Mode is included with your Workhorse subscription — no separate purchase).
• A run-of-show built or imported in Workhorse for the event you’re running.
• Host or co-host permissions in the Zoom meeting.

Adding Director Mode

1. Go to the Zoom App Marketplace and search for Workhorse Director Mode, or open it directly from your Workhorse account under Integrations.
2. Click Add, then Authorize when prompted. This connects the app to your Workhorse account so it can read your run-of-show and speaker roster.
3. Once authorized, Director Mode is available inside any Zoom meeting you host, under the Apps panel.

Using Director Mode in a meeting

1. Start or join your Zoom meeting as host or co-host.
2. Open the Apps panel and select Workhorse Director Mode.
3. Choose the run-of-show for this event from your Workhorse account. Director Mode pulls in your scheduled segments and speaker list.
4. Add your hosts and panelists to the run-of-show once (in Workhorse, ahead of time) — Director Mode automatically matches them to the live Zoom participant list by name when the meeting starts.
5. As the meeting runs, Director Mode tracks elapsed time against your schedule and spotlights the current speaker automatically. No one needs to manually click spotlight for each segment change.
6. Manual override: at any point, type a command in the Director Mode panel — for example spotlight Jane Doe or next segment — to take control without waiting on the schedule. Automatic spotlighting resumes on its own after a manual override, or you can pause it entirely from the panel.

What Director Mode does and doesn’t do

• It reads the Zoom meeting’s participant list and calls Zoom’s spotlight API based on your schedule.
• It does not record or store meeting audio or video.
• It only spotlights — it does not mute, remove, or otherwise manage participants.

Removing Director Mode

• From Zoom: go to zoom.us/app_marketplace → Manage → Added Apps, find Workhorse Director Mode, and click Remove.
• From Workhorse: go to Integrations in your Workhorse account and disconnect Zoom. This revokes Director Mode’s access to your run-of-show data.

Removing the app does not affect your Workhorse account, run-of-shows, or any other Workhorse data — it only disconnects the Zoom integration.

Troubleshooting

• A participant isn’t being spotlighted — check that the name on your Workhorse run-of-show roster closely matches how that person’s name appears in the Zoom meeting (Zoom display names can vary from what’s on the schedule).
• Spotlight isn’t switching on schedule — confirm the run-of-show is published in Workhorse, not still a draft, and that the meeting’s start time roughly lines up with the schedule’s start time.
• Still stuck? Email brian@fire-creative.com — see the Support page.