How to use a teleprompter for talking-head videos

Write a script you can say

Most "I sound like I'm reading" problems start in the script, not on camera.

• Short sentences, one idea each. If you run out of breath reading a line aloud, split it.
• Contractions. Nobody says "do not" in conversation unless they're making a point.
• Write numbers and names the way you say them.
• Read the whole script aloud before you film, and rewrite any line you trip on twice.
• Put each sentence on its own line. The line break becomes your breath.

Set up the text and the camera

Your eyes give it away. The farther the text sits from the lens, the more your gaze visibly drifts off the viewer. On a laptop, put the script at the very top of the screen, just under the webcam. On a phone, keep the text at the top edge near the front camera. A beam-splitter prompter puts the text right in front of the lens, which gives the best eye line of all.

Keep lines short so your eyes don't sweep side to side, and make the text big enough to read without leaning in. Light your face well. A prompter doesn't help if the viewer can't see your eyes.

Read without sounding read

Start slower than you think. A scroll that matches your fastest reading pace leaves no room to breathe or stress a word. Mark the one word in each line you would lean on in conversation. Pause at the end of each line and let the next one arrive.

Run the whole script several times instead of stopping at every slip. You loosen up as you go, and the edit can take the best version of each line from different runs.

The manual way

1. 01Load the script into a teleprompter app or hardware prompter.
2. 02Record a few full takes.
3. 03Import every take into your editor.
4. 04Find each take of each line, compare them and keep the best one.
5. 05Cut the pauses and the slips, then caption and export.

Where the prompter stops helping

A prompter fixes the reading. It does nothing for the edit. You still end up with several takes of every line and the slow job of comparing them, which is why many people film one take and live with the stumbles.

The Cutroom AI way

1. 01Open /record in Chrome, Edge, Arc or Safari 26, and allow the camera and microphone.
2. 02Click “Add a script” and type or paste what you will say. Each sentence gets its own line, and the sheet tells you how many lines there are and about how long they take at your speed.
3. 03Pick a text size (S, M or L) and a reading speed from 0.75x to 1.5x. At 1x the script moves at about 155 words a minute.
4. 04Set “Take length” to 60 s, 3 min or 10 min if you want a cap, or leave it at no limit.
5. 05Click “Start recording”. Use “Back one line” and “Next line” if you need to jump. Pause between takes.
6. 06Watch a take back if you are unsure. Takes are kept even if the tab reloads.
7. 07Click “Done”, then “Edit these takes”. The takes go straight into the best-take edit, where each line keeps its strongest take.

Mistakes to avoid

• Text far from the lens. Viewers can tell you are looking at something else.
• A scroll set to your top speed. You will rush, then stumble, then rush to catch up.
• Reading every line at the same pitch. Pick a word to lean on in each line.
• Stopping the recording after every slip. Keep rolling, pause and restart the line from its first word.
• A script written like an essay. If it reads well silently but sounds stiff aloud, rewrite it.