How to read a script without looking like you're reading

Six practical techniques for reading from a teleprompter naturally on camera, from writing for speech to where the active line sits relative to the lens.

Reading looks like reading because of three tells: eyes sweeping across lines, a flat delivery, and gaze landing below the lens. Fix them by writing the way you talk, keeping the active line next to the camera, using a bigger font than feels right, and letting the text follow you instead of chasing it.

Write like you talk

Most “teleprompter voice” starts in the document, not in the delivery. Text written to be read silently has long sentences, subordinate clauses and words nobody says out loud. When you read it aloud you sound like you are reading because you are reading prose.

Write for the ear. Short sentences. Contractions. One idea per line, with a blank line between ideas so the paragraph breaks are the breaths. Say each sentence aloud as you write it and delete anything you stumbled on. If a sentence needs a comma to make sense, it is probably two sentences.

Keep numbers as words where you would say them as words, and spell out abbreviations the first time. The recognizer in a voice-following prompter matches what it hears, and so does your audience.

Put the line near the lens

The second tell is gaze direction. When the text sits below the camera, your eyes point below the camera, and viewers see someone looking at the desk.

Place the prompter window as close to the lens as the screen allows: top centre of a laptop display, or directly under an external webcam. Then make the window narrow. A line of text that spans the whole screen forces your eyes to travel; a line that spans a third of it can be read with almost no movement.

gotoprompter keeps the active line near the top of its window rather than the centre, which puts the words you are saying as close to the camera as possible and leaves the upcoming lines below for peripheral reading.

Bigger than you think

Set the font larger than feels comfortable, then go up one more size. Large text does two things. It lets you take in a line at a glance instead of scanning it, which removes the left-to-right eye movement that gives reading away. And it reduces the number of words per line, so the highlight moves often and you always know where you are.

On a 14-inch laptop at arm’s length, 32 to 40 points is a good starting range. On a 27-inch monitor a metre away, go larger still. If you find yourself leaning in, the font is too small.

Let it follow you

Fixed-speed scrolling forces you to match a machine, and the strain shows as a monotone delivery and a worried glance whenever you fall behind. A voice-following prompter removes that pressure: the text waits when you pause, holds while you ad-lib, and catches up when you skip. You can stop to think, say something off-script to the camera, and come back, and the highlight is where you left it.

This changes the delivery more than any other technique because it lets you behave like a person talking rather than a person keeping up. Pause for effect. Repeat a sentence you fluffed. Look away from the screen entirely for a beat. The script is still there when you return.

Use cues

Stage directions belong in the script, not in your memory. Put them in square brackets: [smile], [hold up the device], [pause], [slide 4]. gotoprompter displays bracketed text in a different style and never counts it as spoken, so the sync holds while you follow the cue.

Cues are also where you note the things that make a take feel live: [look at the camera], [slow down], [breathe]. Reading those at the right moment is what practised presenters do in their heads; writing them down makes the first take as good as the fifth.

Practise once

One read-through before recording is worth more than ten after. Read the whole script aloud with the prompter running. You will find the two sentences that do not work in your mouth, the number you need to round, and the paragraph that needs a cue. Fix them in the text, not in the delivery.

Then record the real take, and if a sentence goes wrong, simply say it again. The prompter backs up with you and the edit is a single cut.

Frequently asked questions

Should I memorise the script instead? Memorising works for short pieces and costs hours for long ones. A prompter you trust gives you most of the naturalness at a fraction of the preparation, and leaves your attention free for delivery.

How do I stop my eyes from moving? Narrow window, large font, active line near the lens. If your eyes still move, the lines are too long.

What if I need to look at slides or a demo while talking? Keep the prompter small and near the camera, and write cues such as [show slide 3] so you know when to glance away. A voice-following prompter waits while you do.

Does this work for live calls, not just recordings? Yes, and it is arguably more useful there, because you cannot do a second take. On a Mac, use a prompter that is excluded from screen sharing so the notes stay yours.