How to use a teleprompter app without sounding scripted

A teleprompter app solves the biggest problem of filming yourself: remembering what to say. It also creates a new one. If it is set up badly, viewers can tell you are reading. Your eyes drift down, your head tilts, and your voice takes on that flat, careful tone people use when they read aloud.

The good news is that almost all of this comes down to set-up, not talent. Get the phone position, distance, text size and speed right, do one practice run, and most people look and sound far more natural than they expect. This guide walks through each step in the order you would actually do them.

Why people look like they are reading

Viewers notice three things. The first is eye direction: if your text sits well below the camera, you look slightly down for the whole video. The second is eye movement: small eyes tracking left to right across long lines look like scanning. The third is rhythm: when the text moves too fast or too slow, you either rush or pause in odd places.

Step 1: put the phone at eye level

Start with the camera, not the script. Place your phone so the front camera lens is level with your eyes, or very slightly above. A stack of books, a tripod or a shelf all work. Avoid holding the phone low on a desk and looking down at it. That angle is unflattering and makes any glance at the text much more obvious.

In portrait, the front camera is at the top of the screen. In landscape it sits at one side, so check which edge the lens is on before you frame the shot.

Step 2: choose your distance

Distance changes how visible your eye movement is. The closer you are to the phone, the more your eyes have to travel to read a line, and the more that travel shows on camera. Moving back reduces the angle your eyes cover, so the same reading movement becomes much harder to spot.

A comfortable starting point is roughly arm's length for a head-and-shoulders shot. If you want to stand further back, you will need bigger text so you can still read it easily. Try both and watch a few seconds of footage before deciding.

Step 3: set the text size and keep it near the lens

The trick to natural eye contact is keeping the words you are reading as close to the lens as possible. A teleprompter app that scrolls your script right under the front camera does most of this for you. Eyecue, for example, shows the script directly below the front camera while it records, so your reading line stays next to the lens instead of in the middle of the screen.

Then make the text bigger than feels necessary. Larger text means fewer words per line, which means shorter eye movements from side to side. Narrow margins also help: widening them keeps the text in a tighter column under the camera. Our guide on how to make eye contact with the camera goes deeper on this.

• Text size: large enough to read without squinting from your filming distance.
• Margins: wide enough that lines stay short, so your eyes barely move sideways.
• Line spacing: a little extra space makes it easier to find your place again.
• Font and colours: pick a clear reading font and high contrast, such as light text on a dark background.

Step 4: set the scroll speed

Most people speak conversationally at somewhere around 130 to 160 words per minute. Your scroll speed should match the pace you want to speak at, not push you faster. If the text runs ahead of you, you will rush. If it lags, you will slow down and start sounding like you are waiting for it.

Start a little slower than you think you need and nudge it up. If you are unsure where to begin, our post on teleprompter speed and words per minute has ranges for different kinds of videos and how many words fit in 30 seconds, 1 minute and 3 minutes.

If you would rather not set a speed at all, Eyecue has a voice scroll option that follows your voice as you speak, in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. When you pause, the script waits for you.

Step 5: do a practice run

Read the whole script once before recording anything. This is not a performance, it is a check. You are listening for three things:

1. Lines that are hard to say out loud. Rewrite them in plainer words.
2. Places where the speed felt wrong. Adjust it now, not halfway through a take.
3. Spots where you lost your place. Add a line break or a little more line spacing there.

Record your practice run and watch the first ten seconds with the sound off. If your eyes look like they are scanning, make the text bigger or the margins wider before you go again.

Step 6: use a countdown

Pressing record and starting to speak at the same moment usually produces a rushed, awkward opening. A countdown gives you a few seconds to settle, look at the lens and breathe. A short delay before the text starts scrolling helps too, so the first line waits for you.

Step 7: record, and keep going

When you record, talk to one person on the other side of the lens, not to an audience. Glance at the text, then look back at the camera for the end of each sentence. You do not have to read every word perfectly. If you stumble, pause, take a breath and repeat the sentence. It is much easier to trim a mistake out later than to restart the whole take each time.

A few things that help during the take:

• Use a remote. A Bluetooth remote, keyboard or foot pedal lets you pause or adjust the script without reaching for the phone.
• Keep your head still and let your eyes do the small amount of reading.
• Smile at the start and the end. Those are the moments people remember.

Step 8: review and trim

Watch the take back once with sound. Check your eyes, your pace, and that the opening and ending are clean. Eyecue lets you trim a take after recording, so cutting the dead air at the start and end takes seconds.

Once this becomes routine, set-up takes a couple of minutes. If you want a teleprompter that already puts your script next to the lens, take a look at Eyecue for iPhone and Android.