How to use a teleprompter (and sound natural)

Set it up, step by step

Whether you use a phone, a laptop or a glass rig, the routine is the same.

1. Paste the script. Clean it first: one idea per paragraph, no stage directions mixed into the words you will say.
2. Place the text by the lens. On a phone or laptop, that means the top of the screen, right under the camera. On a beam-splitter rig, the glass sits in front of the lens and you turn on mirror mode.
3. Set the type size. Big enough to read comfortably from where you sit, usually two to five words per line.
4. Set the speed. Start at 140 words a minute and adjust during a run-through.
5. Do a test take. Record 30 to 60 seconds, then watch it back with the sound off. Look for eyes moving side to side.
6. Record. Use a countdown so you start calm, and pause the scroll if you need to reset.

In Teleprompter, you can tap the screen or press Space to pause, hold to move the text yourself, and change the speed with the plus and minus buttons while you read. A Bluetooth page-turner works too, because the common clicker keys (Space, Enter, B, K, F5) start and pause it.

Choosing a reading speed (words per minute)

Most people speak at roughly 120 to 160 words per minute. Reading aloud to camera, 140 is a comfortable start: clear but not slow. Broadcast news often runs faster; teaching and explaining often runs slower.

The right speed is the one where the line you are saying stays close to the reading line. If you keep catching up with it, it is too fast. If you are waiting for it, it is too slow. Teleprompter lets you set anything from 40 to 400 words a minute, in steps of five.

Your eye line: keep the words near the lens

Eye contact is the whole point of a teleprompter. Viewers notice two things: eyes looking slightly away from the lens, and eyes moving side to side as you read each line.

• Lens at eye height. Raise a laptop on books or a stand. Looking down at a camera reads as looking down at the viewer.
• Text right under the camera. Put the reading line near the top of the screen, not in the middle.
• A narrow column. Wide margins mean shorter lines and less eye travel. Teleprompter has a margin setting for exactly this.
• Sit further back. The further you are from the camera, the less any eye movement shows. Larger type lets you do this.
• Check yourself. Teleprompter can show your front camera behind the words, so you can see your framing while you read.

Writing a script for the prompter

A script that reads well on paper can sound stiff out loud. Write for the ear.

• Short sentences. One breath each. If you run out of air reading it, split it.
• Contractions. "It's" and "you'll", not "it is" and "you will", unless you want the stress.
• Numbers as you say them. "About two thousand" reads more easily than "1,987".
• Sections. Break the script into parts (hook, main points, sign-off) so you can find your place after a stumble.
• Notes that aren't read. Put cues like "smile" or "show the product" in brackets so they look different from your lines.

Teleprompter understands a few simple markers. A line starting with # starts a section and is not read. Anything in square brackets, like [look at camera], shows as a small note and doesn't count towards the reading time. [PAUSE] stops the scroll at the reading line until you carry on, and [PAUSE 3] holds for three seconds and then continues by itself.

How to read a script naturally on camera

1. Read it aloud twice before recording. The prompter should remind you of what you are saying, not introduce it.
2. Read in phrases. Glance at a chunk of words, then say it to the lens. Don't track each word.
3. Mark the stresses. Know which word in each sentence matters most, and lean on it.
4. Pause on purpose. After a key point and before a new section. Silence sounds confident on video.
5. Move a little. Small nods and hand gestures make you look like you are talking, not reciting.
6. Allow yourself to go off-script. If a better phrase comes out, keep going. Pause the scroll, catch up, carry on.

Common mistakes

• Scrolling too fast. Chasing the text makes you rush and sound breathless. Slow it down and cut words instead.
• Text too far from the lens. A prompter in the middle of a laptop screen makes you look below the camera the whole time.
• Lines too wide. Long lines force the side-to-side eye sweep that gives reading away.
• A first read on camera. Cold reading sounds like cold reading. Rehearse first.
• Writing like an essay. Long sentences and formal words are hard to say and harder to make sound natural.
• No pauses. Without breaks the whole video becomes one long sentence.