Teleprompter

About the Teleprompter

This free online teleprompter scrolls your script up the screen at a steady pace so you can look at the camera instead of down at a page. Paste the text, choose a speed, press Start, and read.

It runs in your browser. There is no app to install, no account, and your script is never uploaded — it stays on your computer, which matters if the script is a company announcement or something you have not published yet.

Speed, and how to find yours

The speed slider goes from 1 to 20. There is no correct number, because it depends on your text size and how fast you talk.

The quickest way to find yours: press Start, begin reading normally, and tap the arrow up or arrow down key until the line you are speaking sits on the red guide. Two or three adjustments is usually enough. The setting is remembered, so you only do this once.

A rough starting point: most people read aloud at 130 to 160 words a minute. Speed 5 at the default text size is close to that.

Mirror mode — what it is for

A proper teleprompter rig puts a sheet of glass at 45° in front of the lens. The camera sees through the glass; you see the script reflected in it. A reflection is backwards, so the text has to be flipped before it goes on the screen.

• Mirror left to right — the one you want for a glass prompter
• Flip upside down — for rigs where the tablet or phone lies face-up under the glass

If you are simply reading off your laptop screen with no glass, leave both switched off.

The reading line

The red line across the screen sits at about a third of the way down, not in the middle. That is deliberate: it puts the next few lines of text below your eyeline where you can see them coming, which is what stops you sounding surprised by your own sentences.

Switch it off if you find it distracting.

Features

• Speed and text size you can change while reading
• Mirror left-to-right and flip upside down, for glass prompters
• Full screen, with everything but the script hidden
• Keyboard control — space to pause, arrows for speed, Esc to leave
• Tap the text to pause on a phone or tablet
• Your script, speed and size are remembered in this browser
• Paragraph breaks are kept, so your script looks the way you wrote it

What people use it for

• YouTube and course videos — keeping eye contact with the lens
• Live streams — intros, sponsor reads and announcements
• Presentations and webinars — a safety net you can glance at
• Speeches and best man's toasts — on a phone at the lectern
• Voice-overs and podcasts — reading a script cleanly in one take
• Practice — timing a talk before you have to give it

Good to know

• A phone or tablet is often the easier prompter — prop it just under the lens so your eyes stay close to the camera.
• Write the script the way you speak, not the way you write. Short sentences scroll better and sound better.
• Break the text into short paragraphs. A blank line gives you a natural place to breathe.
• If you lose your place, press Space — the scroll stops and stays where it is.
• On iPhones and iPads, full screen may be refused by the browser. The prompter still fills the page and works normally.

How to use it

• Paste your script into the box
• Set the speed and the text size
• Tick Mirror left to right only if you are using a glass prompter
• Press Start
• Read, and use arrow up / down to adjust the speed as you go
• Press Space to pause, or Esc to close when you are finished