Teleprompter Pros and Cons

Although teleprompters have become almost as essential as the presenters themselves, whether on television production sets, at public speaking events, or in home webcasting studios, are they really as indispensable as they are made out to be? What are some of the main advantages to using a teleprompter in your presentations? And, on the other hand, what are some disadvantages to using one?

The main advantage to using a teleprompter in your presentations is the connection that it enables you to make with your audience. When you can make continuous eye contact with the men and women behind the lens of your camera, an instant connection is created that is hard to match. When the viewers see you gazing warmly into their eyes while telling them what they need to hear, they feel connected to you and drawn to what you are saying. This kind of connection is extremely hard to create without the use of a teleprompter. With note cards or other kinds of cues, your attention is continually being distracted as you refer to your notes, and eye contact with your audience is continually broken.

Another advantage to using a teleprompter is how much your presentation will improve when you remove all memorization from the equation. Whether you are used to referring to your notes or memorizing your script ahead of time, remembering what to say next is a nightmare that will be a thing of the past when you use a teleprompter. On the contrary, you will appear more spontaneous and more brilliant than ever, as well as more precise in your speaking. A teleprompter can help you forget about remembering and instead focus only on getting your point across and speaking to the souls of your viewers.

There are many more advantages to using a teleprompter such as being able to pace your presentation to fit into a specific time slot, use exact wording, and appear less clumsy, but let’s now talk about a few disadvantages. The main disadvantage is that you will have to invest money in order to get a teleprompter that is really worth having. Although there are plenty of cheap teleprompters out there, to really boost your presentation to the maximum, be prepared to invest quite a hefty sum. Another disadvantage is that teleprompters don’t work under water. If you ever need to give a magical, underwater presentation about the mating habits of dolphins, be prepared to revert to plasticized note cards.

Tags: Obama, Teleprompter, webcasting