Use a teleprompter without sounding scripted

Paste the script, pick a font size you can read from your actual recording distance, then put the phone at eye height. If you are using the front camera, the script and lens are already close together. If you are recording with another camera, place the phone directly under that lens.

1. Load the script. Type or paste the script into the app and check the estimated read time before you record anything.
2. Set font size for your distance. Choose a font size you can read comfortably from where you will actually stand — roughly 44 pt at arm's length, 80 pt or more at two metres.
3. Position the phone at eye height. Put the phone at eye level, as close to the recording lens as possible, so your eyes barely move off the camera.
4. Set the scroll speed. Start near 1× and adjust. The text should arrive slightly ahead of you, never behind.
5. Rehearse once with no camera. Run the script in Rehearse mode to confirm the pace and the runtime without recording anything.
6. Count down and record. Use a 3, 5 or 10 second countdown to settle into frame, then record while the script scrolls over the camera view.

Run the script once before you record. If the first pass feels too fast or too small, fix that before you start chasing takes.

The lens is the target. The words should pass near it, large enough that you can read from the middle of the screen without scanning left and right. Word-tracking is what makes a prompter obvious.

Record fifteen seconds and watch it back on mute. If your eyes move, increase the font size or move the phone closer to the recording lens.

Keep your gaze on one reading band. Let the text come through that band instead of chasing each line.

Start near 1×. The text should sit slightly ahead of your voice. If it is too slow, your pauses stretch and you sound like you are waiting. If it is too fast, you clip sentence endings.

Prompter scrolls from 0.5× to 2×, and you can adjust speed while recording. That matters more than the exact starting number: if your delivery drifts, correct it and keep going.

A script that looks polished on the page often sounds stiff on camera. Make it easier to say before you try to perform it.

• Use contractions and short sentences.
• Put one idea in each paragraph.
• Add blank lines where you want to breathe.
• Replace words you would never use in conversation.
• Read it aloud once and fix every stumble.

The app includes SF Pro, New York, Avenir Next, Georgia and Menlo. Pick the one you can read fastest without squinting; this is not the place to choose a pretty font.

Rehearsal is not memorising the whole thing. It is finding the spots where the script fights your mouth.

Use Rehearse mode for a full-speed run with no camera. Nothing is recorded, so you can repeat the opening a few times without filling Photos with throwaway clips.

Spend the most time on the first fifteen seconds. That is where the take either settles or starts to feel read.

1. Eyes tracking across the line. Use bigger text and keep it closer to the lens.
2. Even rhythm. Vary sentence length in the script.
3. No pauses. Add blank lines where you need a beat.
4. Clipped endings. Slow the scroll slightly.
5. Frozen body. Stand up if the shot allows it.
6. Written-English vocabulary. Replace it with words you would say.

For starting settings by video type, see teleprompter for video guide.