In 2020, the role of being a Solutions Consultant has dramatically changed for many. Gone are the days of sitting in airports frantically creating slide decks or configuring your product in preparation for a face-to-face demonstration the next day. Instead, we have been forced to become experts in remote demonstrations and part of this is becoming adept at using video conferencing tools.

If you use GoToMeeting for virtual meetings, I have outlined my 12 most-used keyboard shortcuts in the tool.

Shortcuts for Managing Meetings

1. Mute or unmute yourself

Is someone else talking and do you need to limit background noise? Or do you need to cough or clear your throat while presenting? Pressing Ctrl+Alt+A is the quickest way to turn on or off your mic. You can even do it with just your left hand while you still use your mouse in your right.

2. Start or stop screen sharing

I like to share my screen when I am presenting a slide or my product. However, I find I can drive better engagement with stakeholders if I stop sharing my screen when either asking or answering questions from the group. By turning off your shared screen, all participants can see each other’s faces more clearly and it becomes easier to gauge the audience’s reactions. You can toggle on and off your shared screen with Ctrl+Alt+S.

3. Pause or resume screen sharing

Every Solutions Consultant needs to know this shortcut! It’s one of my most-used. If you need to do something that you don’t want to draw your audience’s attention to, use Ctrl+Alt+P to pause or un-pause your shared screen.

4. Start or stop webcam

I tend to share my webcam while asking the audience a question or between every demo chunk. I hide it, however, when I am demonstrating the product to ensure my audience’s attention is where I want it. This shortcut makes it very easy to toggle your webcam on or off: Ctrl+Alt+W

5. Show or hide Chat panel

Generally, I like to hide the chat panel when I am presenting, but it can be useful to use Ctrl+Alt+C to quickly open it to check for any questions and then close it again.

6. Show or hide Audience View panel

Audience view is important to make sure your audience is seeing what you want them to see. You can also see the lag time between when you change a slide vs when your audience actually sees it if your connection is on the slow side. I use this shortcut to hide it again so it doesn’t clutter your screen while presenting. Simply press Ctrl+Alt+V.

7. Lock or unlock meeting

Using the ‘Lock’ functionality in GoToMeeting can be essential. If you need to log into a call early to get set up, make sure you are sharing the correct screen, check our audio and webcam, you can use the shortcut Alt+L to lock the meeting so only organisers can join. Any of your audience will be directed to a virtual waiting room until you either unlock the meeting or manually admit them.

Drawing Shortcuts

Drawing shortcuts are essential if you intend to mark up your screen to help explain something to your audience. It helps make a session more interactive if you can circle buttons or add annotations in real-time. Whether you are using your cursor (best for just circling or underling) or using a touch screen and stylus or even a graphics tablet, these shortcuts can be a huge time-saver.

8. Switch to pen tool

You can use the standard pen tool to write anywhere on the screen in front of your audience. You can use Shift+Ctrl+1 to select the tool, but you will need to use your cursor if you want to change the colour (as far as I know!)

9. Switch to highlighter tool

If you need to highlight something on the screen, the highlighter tool can be used. I find if you are just using your cursor of annotations, a highlighter can look less messy than trying to underline or circle using the pen. Press Shift+Ctrl+2 for the highlighter.

10. Switch to spotlight tool

If you don’t want to annotate anything on the screen but would rather just point to it, the spotlight can come in handy. It turns your cursor into a large, red dot that is much easier to see than the white arrow of your cursor. Hit Shift+Ctrl+3.

11. Erase all drawings

Once you have finished your discussion on a different screen, you will need to press Shift+Ctrl+E to erase all your drawings and annotations before moving onto the next part of your demo or presentation.

12. Switch to normal cursor

Finally, to switch back to your normal cursor, simple press Esc.

I hope these keyboard shortcuts for GoToMeeting will come in useful for you. These are the main ones that I use on a regular basis. I have put them into a table below so you can easily take a screen print for your reference.

Did I miss anything? If you use any other useful shortcuts in your remote meetings, I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.