Are you going to be using a teleprompter for your upcoming video production, but have not used one before? If so, it will help to follow these tips so that your production goes smoothly.

Keep The Glass Clean

The beauty of using a teleprompter is that it allows the talent that is on camera to read the script without having to memorize it, all by shooting through the glass that the script is projected onto. The camera will never see the words on the glass, but the glass can get dirty and cause problems with the video you capture. That's why it's so important to keep the teleprompter glass clean. Use a lint-free cloth to wipe off the surface and keep it free and clear of any dust and debris.

Use Large Type 

Have you ever watched the news and felt like you could tell the anchor was reading off a teleprompter? In this case, the words on the teleprompter are likely way too small. This causes the person on camera to rapidly shift their eyes from left to right, which doesn't look natural because they are clearly not looking into the camera. The solution to this is to use a large font so that the words are easy to read with minimal eye tracking. 

Hire A Teleprompter Operator

Your production day is going to be busy with everyone in the crew doing their part. It is important to have a teleprompter operator. Not only is it about having a person that is dedicated to the job, but someone that is experienced and knows what they are doing. Many takes can be blown by inexperienced people on set that are told to run the teleprompter because they simply do not know all of the techniques necessary to run the machine properly. If your talent pauses too much because the script is not scrolling fast enough, you'll have to start all over again.

Clean Up The Script

It's important that you remove everything from the script that the talent is not reading on camera, which will avoid unnecessary scrolling and rapid speed changes. This will avoid the talent accidentally reading things that are not supposed to be read, and keeps the scroll speed consistent since odd parts of the script do not need to be skipped on the fly. In addition, spell out words phonetically if the talent is going to have problems reading them due to the unique spelling of the word.