Thanks for reaching out to Apple Support Communities, drdouglasghd.
We understand you're having some difficulties with performance on your Mac when using video conferencing applications. Can you tell us if your Mac is updated to the most up to date version for your system? If not, we suggest following the steps below to start the update process.
How to update the software on your Mac
Along with your Mac, you'll also want to be sure you have the most updated version of the applications your are attempting to use as well. Depending on where you installed your applications from, the updates should be available through the App Store or the developers website.
You could also test using these applications while in safe mode and see if you notice the same behavior and slow processing. Using safe mode disables certain software on your Mac so this may tell you if there is something else installed on your Mac that is causing the spike in CPU power. This article will help walk you through the steps for booting into safe mode.
How to use safe mode on your Mac
We hope this helps.