Teleprompter

A teleprompter is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to the practice of using cue cards. The screen is in front of the lens of the camera, and the words on the screen are reflected to the eyes of the speaker using a one-way mirror (Note that this is only true in principle - when the space behind the lens is covered in a shroud, an ordinary glass pane will work as a one way mirror). As the speaker does not need to look down to consult written notes, he or she appears to have memorized the speech or be speaking spontaneously, and he will look directly into the camera lens. Cue cards, on the other hand, will always be placed away from the lens axis, making the speaker look at a point beside the camera, which leaves a "distracted" impression.

External Links

• Plasti-Prompter - A cheap DIY teleprompter for webcams created by Max Rottersman
• ProPrompt.com- Home of Compu=Prompt the first personal computer based teleprompting system Invented by Courtney M. Goodin and Laurence B. Abrams in 1983.
• Review of VideoCue desktop video teleprompter for Macintosh
• Visual Communicator desktop video teleprompter