How to use a teleprompter: from setup to your first clean take

How a teleprompter works

A teleprompter scrolls your script on a screen positioned as close as possible to the camera lens, so you can read while appearing to look at the viewer. The classic version uses a sheet of angled beam-splitter glass in front of the lens: a screen below reflects the text into your eye line while the camera films through the glass. Software teleprompters on phones and computers skip the glass and put the text on a screen near, or over, the camera image.

Either way, the principle is the same: the closer the text is to the lens, the less your eyes move, and the more natural you look.

Step 1: Choose your setup

If you're starting out, use what you have. A laptop webcam and a browser teleprompter is enough to learn the technique.

Step 2: Place the text at the lens

• Laptop/webcam: shrink the teleprompter window and drag it to the top center of the screen, directly under the camera. Don't read from a second monitor.
• Phone: mount it at eye level. Looking down at a phone on a desk is unflattering and makes your eyes look lowered even when you're reading near the lens.
• Glass rig: center the glass on the lens, lay the tablet flat beneath it, and enable horizontal mirroring.

Distance matters. The further you sit from the camera, the smaller the angle your eyes move through to read a line. Sitting 1–1.5 m back with larger text looks far more natural than sitting close with small text.

Step 3: Set text size, width and color

• Width: narrow is better. Aim for 5–8 words per line. In the online teleprompter, a text width of 40–60% usually does it.
• Size: big enough to read without leaning in. As a starting point, 40–56 px for a laptop at arm's length, 70–90 px for a tablet under glass.
• Color: high contrast, low glare. White or yellow on black is the broadcast standard; it's also the only choice that works on glass.
• Reading line: keep a marker about a third of the way down the screen, and read the line at the marker. Your eyes stay in one spot while the text moves.

Step 4: Set the speed

The teleprompter should follow you, not lead you. Most people speak at 130–160 words per minute on camera. The Tuzu online teleprompter lets you set pace directly in words per minute, so changing the text size won't change your pace. Elsewhere, start slow and speed up.

The rule of thumb: the line you're reading should stay at the reading line. If it drifts up, speed up; if you're waiting for words, slow down. Read more in choosing teleprompter scroll speed.

Step 5: Rehearse once, out loud

Read the whole script aloud with the teleprompter running, without recording. You're listening for:

• sentences you run out of breath on (split them),
• words you stumble over (replace them),
• places you naturally pause (add a blank line there),
• the total time (does it fit?).

Edit the script, then do one more pass. Familiar words are easier to say naturally.

Step 6: Record

1. Use a countdown (3–5 seconds) so you're settled when the text starts moving.
2. Smile and pause for a beat before the first line; it gives you a clean edit point.
3. Record in sections if the script is long. Restart from the last paragraph, not from the top.
4. Use the speed controls mid-take if you need to. In the online teleprompter, ← and → change pace without stopping, and Space pauses.

Common mistakes

• Text too wide: your eyes sweep left to right on every line. Narrow it.
• Speed too fast: you sound rushed and breathless. Slow down 10–20 wpm.
• Reading word by word: you sound flat. Read a phrase ahead; see how to read a script on camera.
• Written-style script: long sentences and formal words don't sound natural spoken. Rewrite for the ear: how to write a teleprompter script.
• Camera below eye level: raise the device to eye height.