TJ Walker says Ruthie Ann Miles reading her Tony acceptance from a cell phone distracted from her message. Visible devices kill speeches. Teleprompters work because audiences don't see them. Paper notes are still best.
Ruthie Ann Miles won a Tony award Sunday night. Guess how she gave her acceptance speech. That's right. She gave her acceptance speech reading from a cell phone. Now, I have nothing against the actress. I haven't seen her. I understand she's quite good and worthy of the Tony Award. But to hold your cell phone up and the whole Apple logo splashing across the screen, it just puts too much focus on the technology and has people wondering, oh, is that iPhone 6? Is it a 6 plus, is it an iPhone 5? 5C? All these things to distract the viewer. Meanwhile, they don't remember what you actually said. Now, I'm all in favor of using technology to help communication, but the technology shouldn't be the most visible part. It shouldn't be what people focus on. That's the beauty of the teleprompter. It's plain glass and people in the audience can't see it. That's why Reagan used it, and that's why Obama and all presidents use teleprompters. It's not really visible to the audience. So that's my problem with using a cell phone. I've seen preachers use iPads. Holding it up. It just creates so much focus on what you're holding. It detracts from your message. You want your message to be what people remember. Now, I love technology. I'm using cameras, lights, microphones, computers right now as we speak. But when it comes to notes, there's one technology that's radically superior to any other technology. It's called a good old fashioned sheet of paper.
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