Read a teleprompter naturally | Cutvey Teleprompter

Why reading sounds like reading

A script written for the eye has long sentences, tidy grammar and no breathing room. Read aloud, it comes out flat, because you are decoding sentences instead of saying them. Add a prompter that moves at its own pace and you start chasing the words, and your eyes show it. Almost every fix below works on one of those three things: the words, the setup or the pace.

Write it for the mouth

Short sentences. One idea each. If you need a breath in the middle, it is two sentences.
Contractions. "We're", "it's", "you'll". People talk that way, and stiff reads usually do not.
Say it before you keep it. Read every line out loud while you write. Anything you trip on, rewrite now.
Numbers the way you say them. "About two and a half thousand" reads better than "2,487".
Spell out the hard names. Put a pronunciation after a name the first time: "Siobhan (shi-VAWN)".
Break lines at the thought. A new paragraph where you would pause makes the pause happen.

Mark the script

On a prompter, formatting is direction.

Bold the word you want to land. One a sentence at most, or nothing stands out.
Paragraph breaks for pauses; a short paragraph on its own for a long one.
Cues at each section, so a remote or the Watch can jump to the next part and back. In Cutvey Teleprompter a cue can also carry its own speed: slower through the legal line, quicker through the list.
Notes in brackets for things you do but do not say, like "[smile]" or "[to camera two]", if you are sure you will not read them aloud.

Set the prompter up for your eyes

Setting	What to aim for	Why
Distance	As far as the shot allows, with the words still easy to read	The further the lens, the less your eyes have to travel across a line
Text size	Large enough to read at a glance from your mark	Squinting reads as reading
Line length	Short: three to six words a line	Your eyes move less from side to side
Reading line	About a third of the way down	The words you are reading sit closest to the lens
Background	Black, with white text	Less glare, especially behind glass
Focus band	Soft or Strong, if you lose your place	It dims the lines away from the one you are reading

The text size calculator gives a starting size and line length for your distance and screen. In Cutvey Teleprompter, wider margins make the lines shorter, and the reading line can sit anywhere from 20 to 80 percent of the way down. OpenDyslexic is built in, and any font on the device works.

Read a phrase ahead

Experienced presenters do not read the word they are saying. Their eyes are a phrase or two ahead, on the next few words, so the voice has something to say while the eyes move on. Practice it: say the line you just saw while you look at the next one. It feels odd for ten minutes, then it is what makes a read sound like talking.

Keep your head still and let only your eyes move. Turning your head to follow the line is the most visible tell of all, and short lines help most here.

Set the pace a touch slow

Most people set a prompter too fast and then race to keep up. Start a little slower than feels natural. Pauses are allowed; the scroll can wait for you.

That is what voice follow is for in Cutvey Teleprompter. You press play at a pace near your own, and it trims the speed four times a second to match how fast you are reading. Pause for effect and the scroll eases down and waits for you. It runs on the device and records nothing. In a noisy room, or for a live event with an operator, run the speed by hand instead. How voice follow works.

If you work to a slot, timed mode fits what is left of the script into the seconds you give it, and the DRIFT clock tells you whether you are running early or late.

Rehearse three times

Pass	What you do	What you listen for
One: aloud, no camera	Read the whole script at your own pace	Lines you trip on. Rewrite them now
Two: with the prompter	Set the size, the speed and the cues	Where you lose your place or rush
Three: on camera	A real take, played back	Your eyes, your pauses, your first and last lines

Watch the playback with the sound off once. If your eyes look like they are reading, step back from the camera, shorten the lines or slow down.

On the day

Know the first and last lines by heart. They are on screen longest without a cut, and they set the tone.
One person drives. Either you, with a clicker or the Watch, or an operator who follows you. Never both.
The operator follows the talent. A good operator keeps the line you are reading at the reading line and lets you set the pace.
Fix it between takes. In Cutvey Teleprompter you can stop, tap the script, fix a word at reading size and play again from the same paragraph. In a session, a producer can fix it from another device while you read, and your place does not move.
Look into the lens between lines when there is no text to read, rather than at the edge of the screen.

When it still sounds wrong

What you notice	Likely cause	Fix
Eyes darting side to side	Lines too long, or the camera too close	Wider margins, step back, larger text
Flat, sing-song delivery	Reading word by word	Read a phrase ahead; rewrite long sentences
Rushing	Scroll too fast	Slow it down; use voice follow
Losing your place	Too much text on screen	Larger text, a focus band, a clearer reading line
Looking down	Reading line too low, or the words below the lens	Move the reading line up; on a phone, record with the script beside the lens
Stumbling on names	Unfamiliar words	Phonetic spelling after the name

Interviews, self-tapes and calls

Interviews. Keep the questions on a prompter for the interviewer and the answers in the subject's own words. Do not put answers on a prompter for a subject who is meant to sound unscripted.
Self-tapes. Put the sides on the prompter, have the reader drive it from another device as a remote, and keep your own hands out of the frame. On an iPhone or iPad the script can sit in a strip beside the lens while you record.
Calls. Put the words under the camera. Reading on a video call.

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Questions people ask

How do I stop looking like I'm reading a teleprompter?

Stand further back so your eyes move less, keep lines short, put the reading line near the lens, read a phrase ahead, and slow the scroll down. Write the script the way you talk.

How far should a teleprompter be from the reader?

As far as the shot allows while the words stay easy to read. The further it is, the less your eyes move across each line. Size the text for that distance with the text size calculator.

How to read a teleprompter naturally