Teleprompter for speeches and presentations

Three ways to use a teleprompter for a talk

1. Rehearsal

The most underrated use. Run your speech on the online teleprompter at your intended pace, and you'll find the sentences that are too long to say in one breath, the transitions that don't flow, and whether you're over time. Fix the script, then run it again. Two or three passes and the words start to stick, which is what you want even if you'll have the prompter on the day.

2. Recorded presentations

For course videos, investor updates and pre-recorded conference talks, a teleprompter lets you deliver a fully scripted talk to camera. Record in sections, one slide or idea at a time, so a stumble costs you thirty seconds rather than the whole take.

3. Live speeches

On stage, professional "presidential" teleprompters use two glass panels either side of the lectern, so the speaker can look left and right at the audience while reading. For smaller events, a tablet on the lectern running the teleprompter with large text is a practical alternative. Keep it at a slightly slower pace than rehearsal, and expect to pause for reactions.

Format the script for speaking

• One idea per paragraph. Leave a blank line between them; that's your natural pause point.
• Mark slide changes on their own line, e.g. [SLIDE 4], so you know when to click.
• Write numbers how you'd say them. "Just over two million", not "2,047,312".
• Underline emphasis with CAPS on one word per sentence at most.
• Check the length. A 10-minute slot fits roughly 1,200–1,400 words, less if you'll take questions. The speech time calculator does the maths.

PowerPoint, Keynote and Google Slides

Presentation apps have a presenter view that shows your speaker notes next to the current slide, but the notes don't scroll by themselves and they sit wherever your laptop screen is. Two setups work well with a teleprompter:

• Recording to camera: put the teleprompter window under your webcam and the slide presenter view on a second screen. Advance slides with a clicker.
• Live on stage: run the teleprompter on a tablet on the lectern and slides from your laptop. A clicker paired with the laptop controls slides; pause the teleprompter with a tap when you need to.

Sounding natural, not read

Audiences forgive a prompter; they don't forgive a monotone. Vary your pace, slow down for the key point, and look up at the end of each sentence: the prompter will wait if you pause it. Our guide to reading a script naturally has drills that work for stage and camera.