Teleprompter for YouTube: how creators script and record videos

Updated October 23, 2026 · Anthony Delmotte

Short answer. Write a strong hook, split the script into short sections, read each section in its own take, and edit the takes together. Record landscape for regular videos and portrait for Shorts. A prompter under the lens keeps your eye contact while you read.

Script the first 15 seconds hardest

Viewers decide quickly whether to stay. Write the hook as a promise or a question, about 35 words, and learn it by heart so you deliver it straight to the lens.

Split into sections

A ten-minute video is easier as eight short takes than one long one. Put each section on its own card: if you fumble, you redo one card, not the whole video. In SmoothCue you can reorder and duplicate cards before recording.

Landscape or vertical

Regular YouTube videos are 16:9 landscape; Shorts are 9:16 vertical. Decide before you record. SmoothCue follows the phone when you turn it, even mid-take, so the cards stay readable either way.

Leave room for yourself

The best YouTube delivery sounds like you talking to one person. Bullet-point sections where you improvise between scripted lines feel more natural than reading every word. A prompter that follows your voice lets you wander off and pick up again by tapping the word where you return.

Gear that matters

Sound first: a cheap clip-on microphone beats the best camera. Then light: face a window. Then the camera: a recent iPhone in 4K is plenty.