With more people using teleconferencing software than ever before, there’s no app that has exploded in popularity quite like Zoom. From students studying online with their professors to movie nights being held by a group of friends, thousands of people have turned to Zoom to bring people together from around the world.
Of course, Zoom is built first and foremost for businesses and schools, and that means it has a number of features designed specifically for these applications. Case in point: the Raise Hand feature, which lets anyone in a conference call let the leader or host of the call know if they’d like to speak or need the attention of the speaker without interrupting or disrupting the call either visually or orally.
Whether you’re using the PC or the Mac version of the app, the steps for raising your hand virtually are basically the same. While in a meeting in Zoom, look for the Participants button along the bottom of the screen. Click this icon, then look for the Raise Hand icon in the middle of the menu. The host will be notified that you’ve raised your hand, all without disturbing the meeting.
If you suddenly decide you’d rather not speak – like if your question was answered or you forgot what you were going to say – you can lower your hand by clicking on the same icon. You can tell you have your virtual hand raised when the icon is blue. Both Mac and Windows offer keyboard shortcuts for raising or lowering your hand in Zoom. On Mac, just press option + y to raise your hand, while Windows users should hit Alt + Y instead.
Finally, if you’re using the Zoom app on your iOS or Android device, you don’t have to be left out. Tap on the More icon along the bottom of the app, then tap Raise Hand from this menu to raise or lower your hand as needed.
With these simple steps, you can easily raise your hand in Zoom and make sure your voice is heard.