Advice on Choosing Your Next Teleprompter

Advice on Choosing Your Next Teleprompter

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When you consider buying your next teleprompter, our experience shows that you need to think about a high quality teleprompters by an American Manufacturer; your maximum budget; what your existing equipment is; and your specific teleprompting needs. 

Your budget is closely aligned to your needs. If you need to have a teleprompter that can be read from a long distance, you will have to spend more money – probably in the area of $1,500 or so. If you have a smaller budget, you can purchase one that is smaller, but you cannot use that device at long distances. 

So, you need to first think about how far your speaking needs to be from the teleprompter. This will dictate what size of product you buy. We recommend that you purchase a 17” monitor (the GS2-17 by Telmax is a great choice) if your speaker is up to 20 feet or so from the device. A 15” is a good choice if he or she is going to be about 15 feet from the teleprompter. You also can consider an iPad teleprompter if your speaker is going to be just a few feet from the device. This is a good way to save money, but remember that an iPad teleprompter is not good for every situation. 

Another consideration regarding your exact needs is whether you need to be able to read the teleprompter in bright conditions. If you need to use it in sunlight, for example, you will want to buy a more expensive teleprompter with a brighter monitor, such as the GS2-19 from Telmax. 

When you are thinking about your existing equipment and your new teleprompter, you want to be sure that the head of your tripod has the weight capacity to handle the combined weight of your camera and lens along with the device itself. You want to be sure that your tripod can handle the weight. If not, you are really wasting your money because your teleprompter will not have the rock steady stability it needs to perform its job. 

You also need to be sure that you can place your camera lens behind the teleprompter glass so that the eyes of the speaker are looking right into the camera. This is, after all, how your speaker will be able to appear to be speaking completely naturally without reading a script. If this alignment is off at all, the speaker will not look as natural.

By keeping these needs in mind, you will be able to purchase the ideal teleprompter for your situation.