Do you need a teleprompter operator?
For a live event, yes. Nobody reads aloud at one steady pace, and only an operator can slow down, wait through applause and jump ahead when the speaker skips a line. For a short video recorded alone, a self-scrolling app is often enough.
What an operator does
- Keeps the current line at the speaker's eye level, whatever their pace
- Stops for applause, laughter and unscripted remarks, then picks up where the speaker does
- Jumps to the right place when a speaker skips or repeats a section
- Makes script changes during the event
- Switches between speakers and their individual text settings
When running it yourself works
A self-scrolling app or a foot pedal is fine for one person recording a short message with time for retakes. If the scroll gets ahead, you stop and go again.
When it does not
A live audience removes the retake. Fixed-speed scrolling forces the speaker to chase the text, and it shows: the delivery speeds up and the eye contact goes.
Voice-tracking software follows the speaker's words automatically, and it can lose its place on names, ad-libs and in noisy rooms. For a keynote, an AGM or an award show, that is the wrong moment to find out.
What it costs
In Vancouver, an operator on your own monitors is $450 for a half day and $750 for a full day. With a presidential pair supplied, it is $950 and $1,500. The rate card has every price.
Get a quote
Send the date, the venue and roughly how many speakers. You get a fixed price and confirmed availability within one business day.
Faster by phone: (604) 671-4096
Or email [email protected]