How to use a teleprompter on your phone (iPhone and Android)

Most short-form video is recorded on a phone, with the front camera, held at arm's length or on a small tripod. That makes the phone the obvious place for your script too. It works well, as long as you set it up so your eyes stay near the lens.

Two ways to set it up#

1. Script and camera on the same phone#

You record with the front camera and read the script on the same screen. This is the simplest setup and the one most creators start with.

• Put the text at the very top of the screen, directly under the front camera. Every centimetre of distance shows up as a slightly-off eye line.
• Keep the column short and the text large. Three to six words a line means your eyes barely move.
• Hold or mount the phone at eye level, and further away than feels natural. Distance reduces eye movement for the same line.
• Keep the scroll slow, or let it follow your voice, so you are not chasing it.

The limitation: the text and the camera preview compete for a small screen, and on an iPhone a teleprompter app and the camera app cannot both be on screen at once. Apps that record inside the teleprompter solve this.

2. Camera phone plus a second device#

You record on one phone (or a camera) and read from, or control the read from, another device. This is better for longer scripts and anything filmed on a tripod.

• Script on a tablet or laptop right under the camera, with the phone in your hand as the remote.
• Script on the camera phone, remote on a second phone for someone helping you.

A remote matters more than it seems. Reaching to the phone to pause or scroll back is what breaks most takes.

Where your eyes should be#

Viewers feel eye contact even when they cannot name it. When you read a phone screen, the most common mistake is looking at the middle of the screen, which on camera reads as looking down. Keep the line you are reading in the top fifth of the screen, closest to the lens, and practise looking at the lens itself between phrases.

The guide on reading a teleprompter without looking like you are reading covers phrasing, pace and marking a script.

Speed: fixed scroll or voice follow#

A fixed scroll speed means you either rush to keep up or wait for the text, and both show. Two better options:

• A remote in your hand or someone else's, so the scroll matches you.
• Voice follow, where the prompter listens for the words of your script and keeps your line in place as you speak. You pause, it waits; you skip a line, it finds you.

Do you need an app?#

You need something that scrolls text near the lens. Options include dedicated teleprompter apps from the App Store or Google Play, teleprompter features built into some editing apps, and browser-based teleprompters that work on any phone without installing anything.

What to look for:

• Text near the front camera, not just full-screen scrolling.
• Adjustable size and column width.
• A remote from another device or a Bluetooth clicker.
• Voice follow, if you record alone.
• Recording inside the app, if you want to stay on one phone.
• Your scripts in sync between your phone and computer, so you can write on a keyboard and read on the phone.

A setup checklist#

• Phone at eye level, a little further away than feels natural.
• Text at the top of the screen, right under the lens.
• Three to six words a line, large.
• Remote or voice follow, not a fixed fast scroll.
• One run-through out loud before the first take.
• Do not disturb on, so a notification does not cover the script.