Preparing your shoot

Writing a natural teleprompter script

The teleprompter is the studio's most profitable tool: zero memory gaps, takes twice as fast. On one condition: the text must be written to be spoken, not read.

Write the way you talk

The test is simple: read your text out loud. If you stumble, the camera will stumble too. Replace subclauses with short sentences. Keep the words you actually use: an over-written script sounds fake from the first second, and the audience feels it before understanding it.

Structure in breathable blocks

Cut the script into paragraphs of 3 to 5 sentences, one idea each. On set, each block becomes a take: easier to nail, easier to cut into clips afterwards. Mark the words to stress in capitals, and note intentions in brackets: [smile], [pause], [slower]. Those notes are not read, they are performed.

Calibrate the length

At a steady speaking pace, count about 140 words per minute. A 10-minute VSL is therefore 1,400 words; a one-minute short, 140. Write 10% less than the target: natural delivery always adds breathing the page did not plan.

At the studio, the teleprompter works for you

Send your script before the session: it is loaded and set to your reading speed when you arrive. The team adjusts the scroll live, and with the Premium Experience, the expert rephrases the passages that snag with you. Details on the pricing page.