How long does it take to read a script?

Divide the word count by your speaking pace. At 150 words a minute, a common pace for speaking to camera, 1,000 words take about 6 min 40 s. Paste a script above for its own figure.

How many words is a one-minute video?

About 150 words at 150 words a minute, so a five-minute video is about 750 words. Slower, more deliberate delivery needs fewer.

How do I use a teleprompter with a webcam?

Make the browser window narrow, place it directly under the webcam, and set the text large enough to read from where you sit. The closer the marker is to the lens, the less your eyes look away from the camera.

Does it work with a beam splitter or prompter mirror?

Yes. Tick Mirror to reverse the text, so it reads the right way round in the glass.

Does it follow my voice?

No. It scrolls at the pace you set, and you can change the pace while it plays with the slider or the up and down arrows. Pause, scroll by hand, and play to carry on from a new place.

Is my script uploaded or saved?

No. The script stays in the page you pasted it into and is gone when you close the tab. There is no account and nothing is sent anywhere.

Free tools

Free online teleprompter

Paste your script, see how long it takes to read, and press play. The words scroll past the marker at your speaking pace, so the last line arrives when the reading time said it would.

The teleprompter runs entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and nothing you type leaves the page.

Script

Replace the example with your own script. It stays in this tab and is gone when you close it.

About 47 s to read

117 words at 150 words a minute.

The time is the word count divided by the pace, and the prompter scrolls at that same pace. 150 words a minute is a common pace for speaking to camera; set your own with the slider.

Pace: 150 words a minuteText sizeMirror

Hi, I'm going to show you how this works in under a minute. Paste your own script into the box above this prompter, replacing this one. The reading time above tells you how long the script takes at the pace you set. Press play and the words scroll past the marker at that pace, so the last line arrives when the reading time said it would. Make the type bigger or smaller, slow down or speed up, and mirror the text if you read it off a beam splitter. Space plays and pauses, the up and down arrows change the pace, and full screen puts the script on the whole display. Nothing you type leaves this page.

How to read from it

Set the pace a little slower than feels natural and read the line at the marker, not the one below it. Space plays and pauses, the up and down arrows change the pace as you go, and Home goes back to the top. Full screen puts the script on the whole display, which is what you want on a second monitor or a laptop set beside the camera.

Timing a script before you record

The reading time is the word count divided by the pace, and the prompter scrolls at the same pace, so the two always agree. Use it to cut a script to length before the take rather than after it: a two-minute slot at 150 words a minute is about 300 words.

Questions about the teleprompter

How long does it take to read a script?: Divide the word count by your speaking pace. At 150 words a minute, a common pace for speaking to camera, 1,000 words take about 6 min 40 s. Paste a script above for its own figure.
How many words is a one-minute video?: About 150 words at 150 words a minute, so a five-minute video is about 750 words. Slower, more deliberate delivery needs fewer.
How do I use a teleprompter with a webcam?: Make the browser window narrow, place it directly under the webcam, and set the text large enough to read from where you sit. The closer the marker is to the lens, the less your eyes look away from the camera.
Does it work with a beam splitter or prompter mirror?: Yes. Tick Mirror to reverse the text, so it reads the right way round in the glass.
Does it follow my voice?: No. It scrolls at the pace you set, and you can change the pace while it plays with the slider or the up and down arrows. Pause, scroll by hand, and play to carry on from a new place.
Is my script uploaded or saved?: No. The script stays in the page you pasted it into and is gone when you close the tab. There is no account and nothing is sent anywhere.

Recording to a script on a Mac

Rooster has a teleprompter in its recorder. It opens beside the record button, scrolls your script at a reading rate you set in words a minute, saves the script with the project, and stays out of a screen recording unless you let it in. When the take is done you edit the video by editing its transcript, on your Mac rather than in the cloud. Read more about Rooster’s teleprompter, or you can try Rooster free.