How to Read a Teleprompter Naturally (And Stop Looking Like a Robot)

We've all seen it: the "deer in headlights" look. A speaker stares fixedly at the camera lens, eyes slightly widened, darting back and forth as they race to keep up with scrolling text. Their voice becomes monotone, and their personality vanishes.

Reading from a teleprompter without looking like you're reading is a skill. But it's a skill anyone can master with the right setup, script preparation, and tools.

Here is your guide to delivering teleprompter scripts with confidence and natural energy.

1. Write for the Ear, Not the Eye

The biggest mistake creators make is pasting a formal written document directly into a teleprompter. We don't speak the way we write.

• Use contractions: Change "do not" to "don't," and "we are" to "we're."
• Shorten sentences: Long, complex sentences are hard to read in one breath. Break them up.
• Add conversational fillers: Intentionally add words like "So," "Now," or "You see" to make it sound like unscripted speech.

2. Nail Your Setup (Eye Level is Everything)

If your audience can see your eyes moving up and down, the illusion is broken.

The center of your teleprompter screen (or the tablet/phone you are using) must be perfectly level with your camera lens. If it's too high or too low, you will look unnatural. Furthermore, stand far enough away from the camera that your eye movements across the text aren't obvious. A distance of 4 to 6 feet is usually ideal for a standard setup.

3. The Secret Weapon: Voice-Activated Scrolling

The hardest part about traditional teleprompters is matching the scroll speed.

If it's too slow, you sound robotic as you wait for the next word. If it's too fast, you panic and start stumbling. You spend more mental energy managing the scroll speed than focusing on your delivery.

The solution is voice-activated scrolling.

Modern tools use speech recognition to listen to your voice and scroll the text automatically as you speak. If you pause for emphasis, the script pauses. If you speed up with excitement, the script speeds up.

This technology used to be expensive, but now you can get it for free. Tools like VoicePrompter use on-device speech recognition to ensure the script follows your lead, allowing for completely natural pacing without needing a second person to operate the scroll wheel.

4. Practice Active Body Language

When we read, our bodies tend to go still. When we converse, we move.

To sell the illusion that you aren't reading, you need to re-engage your body. Smile before you start speaking. Use hand gestures to emphasize points just as you would in normal conversation. Remember to blink! These small physical cues trick the viewer's brain into thinking they are watching a spontaneous interaction.

Summary

Reading naturally is about comfort. Write a conversational script, set up your gear correctly, and most importantly, use software that adapts to you, not the other way around.

Ready to try voice-activated scrolling for yourself? Check out VoicePrompter, a completely free, private, and offline teleprompter designed to help you speak naturally.