TJ Walker explains how to use a teleprompter effectively by varying speed, volume, pauses, and physical movement (head, body, facial expressions) and by practicing on video—drawing comparisons to speakers like Barack Obama and Ronald Reagan. He emphasizes that teleprompter use requires rehearsal and actor-like discipline, and ends with a call-to-action for his public speaking courses and trainings.
Chapters
Folks, I'm not being partisan here, but a lot of observers across the political spectrum have commented that Barack Obama was very good using a teleprompter. Now, some of that. Some people meant that as an attack. I'm not going to get into political attacks today. But commonly held observation is that Barack Obama, like Ronald Reagan, both of them very good at reading the teleprompter, contrasted with someone like George W. Bush. Well, I want to share with you the secrets that Obama had so that you can do it, too, because it's not that hard. The whole secret when it comes to reading from a teleprompter is sometimes you have to speak a little faster, sometimes you have to speak a little slower, sometimes louder, sometimes softer, and occasionally pause. The other thing you have to keep doing is you have to keep moving your head and moving your body. Now, that doesn't sound very hard, but when you look at someone like George W. Bush or John McCain who ran against Obama back in 2008, what you saw was something like this. Their head was not moving, their face wasn't moving, and their speaking speed was the same. The volume was the same, the tone was the same, and the pausing was pretty much the same. Same, non existent. And that makes someone sound like a robot. Now, the key is you have to practice. People think a teleprompter is about saving you time. Great. I've got a teleprompter. I don't have to practice. I don't have to worry about forgetting what to say. Well, forgetting what to say isn't your problem. Saying things in a way that make you sound believable, sound interesting. That's the real issue. People think Ronald Reagan was great because he was an actor. He was great at reading the teleprompter because he brought an actor's discipline to the process. When he had a major speech like the State of the Union address, he would spend an entire day doing videotaped rehearsal with the teleprompter so he could get comfortable with the words, know exactly where to pause, where to speak louder, to soften his voice. Barack Obama did the same thing. You can do the same as well. So if you're ever in a situation where you're going to use a teleprompter, remember, you need to practice. You need to practice on video. And the key thing is variation. You have to vary the speed, you have to vary the volume, you have to vary the length of pausing, and you have to make sure you put pauses in and you have to vary your head position where your head is, your body, your eyes, your eyebrows, you need movement. If the only thing that's moving are your lips, doesn't matter how well your speech is written, it's going to be a disaster. I'm TJ Walker. I help people speak more effectively, whether they are using teleprompters or notes or speaking off the top of their head. If you want to become a better speaker, I've got online course solutions for you. Every single month. I have a public workshop in New York City for both public speaking and media training. And I have private trainings, one on one and with groups all over the world. So if you're interested, give me a call or check out the website now.
