How to use a teleprompter on iPhone
Reading from notes next to the phone is why so many talking-head videos look shifty. A teleprompter puts the words over the lens so you can read and still look at the viewer.
Why a teleprompter and not notes
Eye contact is the whole trick of a talking-head video. Notes beside the phone pull your eyes a few degrees off the lens every line, and viewers notice even if they cannot say why. A teleprompter scrolls the script directly over the camera preview, close to the lens, so the drift disappears.
Write for speaking, not reading
- Short sentences. One idea each. Contractions.
- Read it aloud once before recording and fix anything you stumble on.
- Roughly 140 words per minute is a natural pace; a 60-second clip is about 140 words.
- Mark pauses with a line break rather than punctuation.
Setting up CueLens
- Paste or type the script, or let the AI script tool draft a first version from a few bullet points, then edit it in your own words.
- Put the phone at eye level, about an arm's length away. Use a stand; a propped phone wobbles.
- Drag the script window as close to the front camera as you can and make it narrow, so your eyes move very little.
- Set the font large enough to read without squinting and the scroll speed to your reading pace. Record ten seconds and adjust.
- Record. If you stumble, pause, go back a line and continue; cut it later.
Light and sound
Face a window or a lamp; never put the light behind you. Record in a room with soft furnishings, and use the wired or AirPods microphone if the room echoes. Clean the front lens; it is where your thumb lives.
Captions
Most short-form video is watched muted. CueLens can add auto-captions from the script you just read, which are more accurate than captions transcribed afterwards because the words are already known.
Questions
- Can I use the back camera with the teleprompter?
- Yes, with the script on screen for a second person to read, or with the phone mirrored to another screen. For solo recording the front camera is the practical choice.
- Does it work for long scripts?
- There is no length limit. For anything over a few minutes, record in sections; it is easier to cut and re-record.
- Can I slow down or stop mid-recording?
- Tap to pause the scroll and tap again to resume; the recording keeps going.
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