How to make a teleprompter with your phone

What a teleprompter actually does

When you read notes beside a camera, viewers see you looking away. A teleprompter fixes this by putting the words where the lens is, so reading and looking at the viewer become the same thing. Every setup below is a different way to get the text closer to that line.

Option 1: Text next to the lens (free)

This works with any phone, tablet or laptop you already own, and gets you most of the way.

1. Recording on a phone's front camera? Show the script at the top of the same screen, as close to the camera as you can. Apps built for this, such as Simply, place the scrolling text right under the lens while they record.
2. Recording on a separate camera or phone? Run the script on a second phone or tablet and place it directly below or above the lens, touching it if you can.
3. Set a narrow line width and a smaller text size so each line is a few words wide.
4. Move the camera a little further away and zoom in slightly. The further you are from the lens, the less your eye movement shows.

Our free online teleprompter works on any phone or tablet browser and has line-width and reading-guide settings for exactly this.

Option 2: Laptop webcam (free)

For video calls, webinars and screen recordings with a face camera:

1. Open the online teleprompter in its own browser window.
2. Resize the window so it is narrow and short, and drag it to the top centre of the screen, directly under the webcam.
3. Set the text size small enough that 4 to 6 words fit on a line.
4. Sit at arm's length or a little further, and read the line inside the reading guide.

Option 3: A beam-splitter glass rig

This is how professional teleprompters work. A sheet of glass sits at 45° in front of the lens. A screen lies flat underneath it, facing up. You see the screen's reflection in the glass, while the camera looks straight through the glass at you. Your eyes are on the lens and the text at the same time.

What you need

• A sheet of clear glass or acrylic, larger than your phone or tablet screen. The glass from a picture frame works.
• A phone or tablet to show the script, plus the camera or phone you record with.
• Something rigid to make a box or frame: a cardboard box, foam board or a few pieces of wood.
• Black card or black cloth to block light behind the glass.
• Tape to cover sharp edges and hold everything in place.

How to build it

1. Make the frame. Cut a box so it is open at the front (facing you) and the back (facing the camera), with a floor large enough for the script screen.
2. Fit the glass at 45°. Fix it diagonally inside the box, with the bottom edge near the camera and the top edge leaning out towards you. The glass should face down towards the floor of the box and out towards your seat.
3. Lay the screen flat. Place the phone or tablet on the floor of the box, under the glass, with the screen facing up and the top of the text towards you.
4. Mirror the text. The reflection flips the text left to right, so turn on mirror mode in your teleprompter. Our online teleprompter has a Mirror text setting.
5. Position the camera. Put the lens right against the back of the glass, centred on the reflection. The closer it sits, the less of the box it sees.
6. Block the light. Cover the back and sides around the camera with black card or cloth. Without a dark backing, the reflection is faint and the camera may pick up reflections of the room.

Tips for a clear reflection

• Turn the script screen's brightness all the way up, and use white text on a black background.
• Keep bright lights and windows behind you, not behind the camera, so they do not reflect in the glass.
• Ordinary glass reflects from both of its surfaces, which can create a faint double image. Thin glass or acrylic reduces it; purpose-made beam-splitter glass reduces it further.
• Clean both sides of the glass. Fingerprints show up in the reflection and on camera.
• Tape or sand any sharp edges, especially on picture-frame glass.

Which setup should you choose?

Whichever you choose, the script matters as much as the setup. Read our guides on writing a script that sounds spoken and choosing a teleprompter speed.