Using a teleprompter for a speech, talk or presentation

Updated October 23, 2026 · Anthony Delmotte

In short. Use the prompter without the camera (“Read without filming” in SmoothCue), a large text size and a slow pace. Voice follow keeps your place while you look at the audience, and a tap on any word brings you back if you improvise.

No camera needed

A prompter isn’t only for video. On a lectern or in your hand, a phone or iPad showing the next lines lets you look at the room most of the time. SmoothCue’s “Read without filming” shows the cards without opening the camera.

Set it up for distance

On a lectern your eyes are further from the screen than when filming: raise the text size and use few words per line. Light text on a dark background is easiest to read under stage lights.

Fixed speed or voice?

In a quiet room, voice follow works well and handles pauses for questions or applause. In a noisy hall, switch to a steady scroll you can pause, and adjust the speed live.

Rehearse with the clock

Run the talk once out loud with the prompter and a timer. If you’re over, cut paragraphs, not speed. Our speech time calculator gives a first estimate.