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Writing scripts and reading to the camera

A short list of posts, added to when there is something to say. The post on iPhone teleprompters covers the competitors too, and it is written for the reader first.

  • Teleprompter speed in words per minute, and where 150 comes from

    Why every guide says 150 words per minute, what the research measures instead, why a prompter should run slower than you read, how to time your own pace in two minutes, and why the number changes between languages.

  • How to write a script for a teleprompter

    What changes when a script is read aloud from a prompter instead of from a page: sentence length, numbers and names, capitals, paragraphs and cues, timing the length, and a worked before-and-after, with the newsroom rules behind each.

  • How to use a teleprompter, from the glass to the first take

    The working side of a teleprompter: what the glass does and the light it costs, the foot-per-inch distance rule, why text under the lens beats text beside it, the four ways to control speed, and a checklist for the first take.

  • How to build a DIY teleprompter for a phone

    A beam-splitter rig from two picture frames: how it works, which glass to use and why plain glass shows the text twice, the angle and the mirror, the light the camera loses, and why the screen and the camera have to be two devices.

  • How to read a script on camera without looking like you’re reading

    The craft behind reading on camera and keeping eye contact anyway: the glance that betrays you, writing for the ear, the angle between your words and the lens, and the tell a fixed scroll speed leaves.

  • Best teleprompter apps for iPhone in 2026

    Six iPhone teleprompters compared on the two questions that narrow the list: whether the script follows your voice, and whether you record inside the app or in someone else’s camera.

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Get Wispim on your iPad

Point the camera at the code to open Wispim in the App Store.