Dear JT
I think the mics on some laptops are positioned in strange places. Have you got an external mic in the house you could plug in the 3.5 mm jack socket? even one sold as part of a earphone set with a smartphone? I have been trying to use zoom over last few months, had similar problems and bought a cheap headset with earphone and a mic I plug it in the mic socket on my laptop and try to position it/speak into it directly (don’t need to use the earpiece) Hope this is helpful
Alan