How not to freeze on camera: let the text scroll
Memorising is hard and improvising is harder. There is a third way, and done right the viewer never notices it.
There are two classic reasons people struggle on camera: memorising and forgetting, or improvising and drifting. Both end in the same place — take after take, then giving up.
The eye goes wherever the text is
The best-known teleprompter mistake is putting the text in the middle of the screen. The lens sits at the top, so the eyes drift down and the viewer senses you are not looking at them. They cannot name it, but they feel it — the video reads as cold.
The right place is just under the lens. The smaller the gap between eye and lens, the more natural the gaze.
You are not obliged to read it
The scrolling text is not there to make you recite word for word; it is there to hold the order. Telling it in your own words usually lands better. The script only reminds you which point not to skip.
Stumbling is fine
If you trip on a sentence, do not stop — say it again. False starts, stray “ums” and moments where you wander off-topic are removed in the edit. Knowing you do not have to nail it in one take is what makes the take easier in the first place.
The fastest way to judge any of this is to see it on your own account.
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