When you’re teaching or presenting, every second counts. Keyboard shortcuts let you start drawing, clear the screen, or switch views without breaking eye contact or fumbling with the mouse. Here are the ones that make the biggest difference.
Drawing on screen
If you use a tool like Smart Inkler to draw over your screen during calls, learn its shortcuts first. Typically you’ll have one combo to start or stop drawing (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+D) and another to clear the canvas (e.g. Ctrl+Alt+C). Once they’re in muscle memory, you can underline, circle, or sketch without leaving your flow or blocking the view with menus.
Screen sharing and meeting apps
In Zoom, Teams, or Google Meet, a few shortcuts save time in every session:
- Share screen / Stop share – often something like Alt+S or a similar combo. Check your app’s help or settings.
- Mute / Unmute – so you can mute quickly when there’s background noise.
- Push to talk – if you use it, assign a key you can hold without looking.
Knowing these means fewer clicks in the middle of a sentence.
Browser and windows
When you’re presenting from a browser or switching between slides and a demo:
- Alt+Tab (Windows) or Cmd+Tab (Mac) – switch to the next window. Use it to jump between slides and live demo without the mouse.
- F11 – full screen in most browsers; hides tabs and address bar for a cleaner look.
- Ctrl+L or Cmd+L – focus the address bar so you can type a URL or search without clicking.
Build the habit
Pick two or three shortcuts that you’ll use every session and practice them until they’re automatic. Add more as you go. In a few weeks, you’ll feel noticeably faster and more in control—and your audience will get a smoother, more focused presentation.