How to Read a Teleprompter without Looking Creepy

for the last couple years many of my videos have been recorded with the assistance of a teleprompter and in a few of my behind the scenes videos when i mention i use the teleprompter i often get many requests to demonstrate how i use it without it looking like i'm using one in fact i'm using it right now everything i just said i was reading from the teleprompter on that lens right there i'm still doing it on the end of my lens is a pad caster parrot v2 which is a handy little unit it works with your phone and has a decent app and it comes with a bluetooth remote i have no real complaints about it the only things that you need to be aware of though is that it's not very big and can't support too wide of lenses i find you get vignetting on anything that's 24 millimeters or wider when shooting full frame so 35 millimeters is the minimum i'd use and that's what i'm using now but that's okay because longer lenses actually lend themselves better to masking your reading because you want the camera far enough away that the little eye movements that go side to side as you read aren't so obvious as if the camera was right up in your face and i find that 35 millimeter with a shot like this provides enough of that masking without placing the camera so far away that you can't actually read the screen without squinting so this is my sweet spot but there's more to the eyes than just scanning back and forth i find that when people are uncomfortable reading from a teleprompter you can see them become transfixed with the lens as if they're afraid of missing a word and that concentration feels a little unnatural compared to how they usually speak so it's important that you physically look more relaxed but also aid the illusion by glancing away from time to time or add some affectations that make you look like you're considering the ideas in your video or perhaps thinking of a word this part takes practice there's something you can do to make this whole exercise more difficult which will in turn also make your practice much more effective interact with an object while practice reading your script for example when it comes to cameras it can be very challenging to read a script that talks about a battery door while also opening that battery door at the right time in a natural way but if you can master this you'll find that when you don't have an object to interact with you'll naturally find it easier to look around while reading your script as if you're trying to find that invisible camera to play with which nobody does when reading from a teleprompter thus tricking everyone into thinking you're just extremely adept at crafting complicated sentences on the fly but in order for any of this to work there's two things you need to do one you need to write a script in your speaking voice not your reading voice sometimes we tend to write things like we're trying to win a pulitzer prize but then when it comes time to read them from a teleprompter it doesn't flow like talking does so write your script as if you were talking to someone not writing an essay for top marks and then two you have to test your script when it's done by that i mean practice reading it out loud it has to be out loud with the flow and cadence you'd like it to have when you record your video this will help train your brain to remember to place emphasis and pauses where you want them but it will also highlight sections of your script that are challenging or potential problem areas for example sometimes i write a sentence i like but then when i read it back out loud it comes across as too sibilant or maybe i accidentally wrote a tongue twister tongue twisters don't cause problems when reading in your head only when speaking so if you find a section that you have a hard time reading out loud change it because if you're messing it up now when the cameras are off you best believe you're gonna mess it up even worse when you're recording and if you master these tips not only will your videos be more engaging because you get to share a script you're proud of while maintaining some of the audience rapport aspects you typically can only build with unscripted videos sort of a cake and eat it too scenario but it also has positive financial implications if you're doing sponsored content for youtube or the like scripted sponsor reads can be quite stuffy at times but they're a bit of a necessity since they're usually based on time you don't want to be rambling on for four and a half minutes for a 30 second ad spot just to keep it natural so if you can make your ad read seem more organic and transition well your viewers are a lot less likely to just fast forward immediately for example watch how i do this ad read for the sponsor of today's video story blocks so sometimes you don't have the shot you need and there's no way you're going to be able to go out and get it before you run out of time run out of money or run out of patience by completely derailing your creative momentum that's where storyblocks comes in they've got subscriptions for every budget they give you access to a vast royalty-free library with unlimited downloads allowing you to use the footage worry free for both personal and commercial projects they're also focused on enriching their catalog with diverse and inclusive content to provide useful assets to creatives with varying needs and audiences and this is all easily accessed using their intuitive interface with filters for 4k video at multiple frame rates along with backgrounds and after effects templates if you've never browsed story blocks before i think you'll truly be impressed by just how exhaustive their library is and i encourage you to learn more about them by using the link in the description below and yes i did just trick you into listening to my entire sponsor message and yes that evil chuckle is real because my last tip to remember is to act out the emotion tone or attitude any particular sentence is supposed to convey some people throw all emotion out the window when they're reading from a prompter and not only does this create a robotic sleep inducing intonation but it's an immediate giveaway that you're reading if your sentence is about the time you got angry show frustration while reading your script if you're relaying a detail you think is over hyped or unimportant wave it off while you talk if it's funny to you chuckle a little just remember to use your normal conversational voice don't try to sound more sophisticated don't over enunciate and don't emote when you wouldn't people have great senses for when something doesn't feel true or authentic to them and you'll distance your audience by repeatedly giving them that feeling but i hope that this video shows that reading from a teleprompter doesn't have to cause that sensation interviewers if you practice these tips and it can actually make your videos better and easier to make while efficiently delivering a more polished message all right i'm done

Channel: Gerald Undone

Views: 419,505

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Id: tjfyM2k6Gg4

Length: 5min 27sec (327 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 14 2022