Use Cases

Teleprompter Eye Contact: Read a Script and Still Look at the Lens

Q: How do you keep eye contact while reading a teleprompter?

Make the sweep too small to see. Use a narrow column of 3 to 5 words, sit 1 to 1.5 m from the prompter, keep the reading line level with the lens and your head still. At 1.5 m, a 12 cm line keeps your eyes within about ±2.3° of the lens, inside the roughly 4° range where viewers still feel looked at.

Q: Can viewers tell I’m using a teleprompter?

Often, yes, if the text is wide or you sit close: the left-right scan at the end of each line gives it away. Narrow the column, step back, and record in short sections so you can glance down at the cut points instead of mid-sentence.

Q: How far should I sit from a teleprompter?

For a beam-splitter prompter, 1 to 1.5 m with a large font is a good range. For a phone or tablet used as a prompter without glass, put it on a stand at least an arm’s length away; closer than that, every line becomes a visible eye movement.

Q: Is a teleprompter app as good as a teleprompter with glass?

Not for eye contact. Glass reflects the text directly in front of the lens; an app on a phone or laptop shows it next to the camera, so you always look slightly off. Keep the text strip at the edge closest to the lens, and correct what is left with AI if needed.

Q: Can AI fix teleprompter eyes after recording?

Yes. Eye contact correction redirects your gaze toward the lens in every frame. A teleprompter sweep of a few degrees is well within the about 20° StoryCut fully corrects, and blinks are kept. Your first video is free.

Q: What scroll speed should a teleprompter use?

Start near the pace you speak, about 130 to 160 words a minute for most people, then adjust until you never wait for the text and never chase it. A steady speed you set yourself is easier to keep than one that keeps changing.

A teleprompter puts your script in front of the lens, yet viewers can still see your eyes scan each line. Here is how wide to set the text, how far to sit, and what to do when the take is already recorded.

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Updated October 8, 2026

Teleprompter eye contact: key facts

Why it still shows: Your eyes sweep left and right across every line. Viewers stop feeling looked at once your gaze is more than about 4° off the lens, half the 8 to 9° “cone of gaze” measured by Gamer and Hecht (2007).
What controls the sweep: Two things only: how wide each line is and how far you sit from the prompter. Halve the width or double the distance and the sweep roughly halves.
A setup that works: A column of 3 to 5 words (about 12 cm wide) read from 1 to 1.5 m keeps your eyes within about ±3.4° to ±2.3° of the lens.
Phone and laptop prompters: There is no glass, so the text sits next to the lens, not on it. Keep a narrow strip right at the edge nearest the camera, and put the device on a stand as far away as you can still read.
Already recorded?: AI eye contact correction fully redirects gaze up to about 20° off-camera, which covers a teleprompter sweep and notes under a webcam. StoryCut corrects 1 video free.

How wide, how far: teleprompter sweep angles

Eye sweep angle for common teleprompter setups: arctan of half the line width divided by the reader’s distance
Teleprompter setup	Line width	Your distance	Eye sweep	Reads as eye contact?
Tablet in landscape, text across the full width	20 cm	60 cm	±9.5°	Nothe scan is obvious
Same tablet text, stepped back	20 cm	1 m	±5.7°	Borderline, visible in close-ups
Narrow column, 3 to 5 words	12 cm	1 m	±3.4°	Yes
Narrow column, stepped back	12 cm	1.5 m	±2.3°	Yes
Phone prompter, narrow strip, on a stand	8 cm	60 cm	±3.8°	Yesjust
Same phone, held close	8 cm	30 cm	±7.6°	Noreads as scanning

Sources: Gamer & Hecht (2007), Are You Looking at Me? Measuring the Cone of Gaze.

Teleprompter mistakes that break eye contact

Text across the whole screen

A tablet in landscape spreads each line over 20 cm or more. Shrink the text box to a narrow column in the middle of the glass.

Sitting too close

Close to the prompter, every word is a bigger eye movement. Step back, raise the font size, and zoom the lens in to keep your framing.

Reading line too low

If you read at the bottom of the glass, you look below the lens the whole time. Put the reading marker level with the lens.

Scroll speed fighting you

Text that runs ahead or lags makes your eyes hunt for the line. Start near your speaking pace, about 130 to 160 words a minute for most people, and adjust.

Glare on the glass

A light behind you or above the camera can reflect in the beam splitter and wash out the text. Use the hood and move lights to the sides.

A head that follows the words

Viewers spot a head turning with each line faster than eye movement. Keep your chin still and let the narrow column do the work.

No teleprompter? Use your laptop or phone

A beam-splitter teleprompter is the only setup that puts the words directly over the lens. Without one, the goal is to get the text as close to the camera as the screen allows. StoryCut’s free online teleprompter runs in the browser: paste your script, set the speed and text size, and read on the line between the two arrows. Shrink the window to a narrow strip and drag it right under your webcam. If you later buy teleprompter glass, its mirror mode flips the text so the reflection reads the right way round.

A phone usually can’t film with its camera app while it shows a web page, so either let the phone be the prompter and film on another camera, or put the prompter on a laptop sitting under the camera you film with.

Already recorded? Fix the eye contact afterwards

If a take shows the scan, or a look down at notes, you don’t have to film it again. AI eye contact correction redraws your eyes so they point at the lens in every frame. StoryCut uses NVIDIA’s Maxine Eye Contact model: it fully corrects a gaze up to about 20° off-camera, fades out between 20° and 30°, and leaves blinks and bigger head turns as they are. Every setup in the table above, even the ±9.5° tablet, is inside the range it fully corrects.

The corrected MP4 keeps your resolution, frame rate, length and audio. Every account gets 1 free video up to 4 minutes; after that, 5 videos cost $9 one-time, or Pro includes 10 a month.

Tools and guides for reading on camera

How to look at the camera while reading a scriptRead the guide Free online teleprompterOpen the teleprompter AI eye contact correctionTry it free Best eye contact correction software (2026)Read NVIDIA Broadcast eye contact alternativeRead

Descript eye contact: price and limitsRead

Captions eye contact on web and AndroidRead Fix eye contact in Premiere Pro footageRead

CapCut eye contact on PC, Mac and webRead Fix eye contact in DaVinci Resolve footageRead Fix eye contact in Final Cut Pro and iMovieRead Does Canva have eye contact correction?Read Loom eye contactRead BIGVU pricing and AI eye contactRead Riverside eye contact: what it can’t fixRead VEED eye contact: price and limitsRead Kapwing eye contact: credits and cost per minuteRead

Submagic pricing and AI eye contactRead Elgato Prompter alternativeRead

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep eye contact while reading a teleprompter?

Can viewers tell I’m using a teleprompter?

How far should I sit from a teleprompter?

Is a teleprompter app as good as a teleprompter with glass?

Can AI fix teleprompter eyes after recording?

What scroll speed should a teleprompter use?

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