How to use a teleprompter with your iPhone

Reading from a prompter looks easy on TV and stiff on most YouTube videos. The difference is not talent, it is setup. This is the routine I use as a videographer, with an iPhone and a free teleprompter, in six steps.

1. Write the script for speaking, not for reading

Most prompter problems start in the text. Long sentences force you to read ahead, and reading ahead is what makes eyes drift. Write the way you talk:

• One thought per sentence. If a sentence needs a comma, consider a full stop.
• Put a line break where you would take a breath. The prompter scrolls in lines, so your breathing and the scroll line up.
• Read it aloud once before you film. Every word you stumble on, replace with the word you said instead.
• Mark pauses with a blank line. On the prompter a blank line is a visual cue to slow down.

2. Get the script onto the phone

Open the teleprompter and paste the text, or tap Import script files and choose .txt or .md files. Each file becomes its own script with the file name as the title, so a folder of scripts loads in one go. Scripts stay on the phone, no account needed. More about running it on iPhone.

3. Place the phone next to the lens

This is the step that decides whether you look at the viewer or slightly past them.

• Same phone for camera and prompter: front camera on, text at the top of the screen, right under the camera. Keep the column narrow.
• Second phone or iPad as the prompter: mount it directly above or below the lens, touching the camera if you can. A phone clamp on the tripod or a cold shoe mount on the cage does the job.
• Distance helps. At arm's length, a prompter 5 cm from the lens shows. At two metres, it reads as eye contact. If you can step back and use a longer focal length, do it.
• Beam-splitter rig: put the phone in the tray, turn on mirror mode, and you look straight through the glass into the lens.

4. Set text size, width and the reading line

• Size: larger than you think. You should read it without effort from your speaking position.
• Width: narrow. A short line means your eyes move up and down, not left and right. Left to right is what viewers notice.
• Reading line: slide it towards the camera. Camera above the screen, line near the top. Camera below, line near the bottom.
• Line height: a bit more air between lines makes it easy to find your place after you look away.

5. Voice tracking or a fixed speed

With voice tracking on, the text follows you. Speak faster and it speeds up, pause and it waits, skip a line and it catches up. This is the mode for anyone who has ever raced a scrolling prompter. Tap the microphone, allow access, start talking. It works in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian.

With manual mode, the text scrolls at a speed you set with the slider. It is useful when you want a very even delivery or when the room is too loud for the microphone. The play button or the space bar pauses. The up and down arrow keys nudge the speed while you read, left and right jump to the previous or next script.

6. Rehearse once, then record

One read-through with the prompter tells you whether the text size and the speed fit. Then record. Do not stop for small stumbles, keep going and repeat the sentence, you will cut it later. If you record several videos in one session, load all scripts first and use the ‹ › buttons or a sideways swipe to jump to the next one without leaving the prompter.

Mistakes that give the prompter away

• Reading too fast. The prompter does not set the pace, you do. With voice tracking that is automatic.
• Eyes scanning. Wide columns and small text. Narrow the column, enlarge the text.
• Prompter too far from the lens. Every centimetre counts at close range. Move it, or move yourself back.
• No pauses. A script without blank lines is read in one breath. Write the pauses in.
• Flat energy. Stand up, talk to one person, and mark the words you want to stress in the script.

Recording tips for iPhone

Lock focus and exposure before the take so the image does not pump while you move. Put a light in front of you, a window works. For sound, get the microphone close: a lavalier or a small shotgun on the cage beats the built-in mic. After the shoot, an editing assistant like cutsmart can remove the silences and retakes for you.