TelePrompter 4 Key Elements

So how do you do.

Did you make any improvement.

I didn’t ask if you improved absolutely everything and you went from awful to perfect.

I just want to know did you make any improvement.

Because if you did you now have a system for getting your speech better and better and better to the point where it’s great.

You simply keep practicing on video.

Removing the things you don’t like adding the things you like until you’re happy with it.

Now let’s really get to the meat of the situation here.

Let me have a cut through a lot of clutter and tell you exactly what you need to know and how to avoid the traps that really mess up most people when they’re using a teleprompter.

Here’s how most people look and sound when they’re using a teleprompter.

Hello my name is T.J.

Walker.

I am happy to be here today.

I am president of media training worldwide and I help people communicate effectively what’s wrong with that.

Now it’s easy to say I look and sound like a robot wouldn’t but what does that really mean.

Here’s what’s happening.

When most people read a teleprompter and what I just did once you’re fixated on words and going through words you rob your voice of its conversation Naledi.

Now what does that mean.

What it really means is you’re speaking to consistently at the same speed.

Your volume is too consistent and you’re not pausing naturally.

It really comes down to those three problems plus not moving your head when your head is moving and your face is not showing any expression and you look like you are being held by terrorists and being forced to read something against your will.

So it really comes down to those four things speaking speed to a consistent speaking volume to a consistent not pausing and freezing your head.

And I bet if you go back and look at the video you just did you’ll see that you’re guilty of one or more of those crimes.

So if you want to come across as natural and relaxed with your teleprompter presentations you’re gonna have to very actively focus on solving all those problems.

And what that means is you’re gonna have to sometimes speak a little faster and sometimes a little bit slower sometimes louder to make a point.

Sometimes you get a whisper for the contrast because that’s what people do in conversation.

And finally you can have to pause occasionally because that’s what people do when they’re just talking.

And of course you’ve got to do it all by not looking frozen and stiff.

If you’re fixated on the words the easiest way to read is to have your heads.

If you’re gonna have to very consciously move your head from left to right up down back.

You’ve got to consciously move your head.

And by the way you should be moving your hands and your body.

You shouldn’t be like this looking scared or stiff or as if you were a prisoner somewhere.

So those are the big lessons I want you to video record yourself again this time I want you very consciously to sometimes speak a little louder sometimes a little softer sometimes a little faster and sometimes for emphasis a little slower and make sure you pause at the end of sentences.

Make sure it’s a little longer at the end of paragraphs and finally make sure your head is moving.

Nobody likes a stiff look at that stiff.

What a bore.

People mean it literally sometimes if you’re not moving.

That’s what makes you look like a robot.

That’s what makes you look scared.

So this isn’t that complicated folks now.

Me saying it doesn’t mean you’re instantly going to do it all like that but it does give you a template of what you should try to do and how to avoid the most common problems.

And if you do all that by the way the SEALs haven’t if you’re if nothing is moving but your eyes and your head is not moving and your face is not moving and your body is not moving then your eyes become the only noticeable thing on screen.

And that’s when the hold.

Quick dirty eye movement becomes obvious.

So if you do those handful of things I asked you to do.

House all the other problem and it makes it seem as though you’re just talking to someone and that’s what people like.

People always ask me T.J.

what’s the best length of time for a speech.

And I say well you know it depends if you’re really boring.

30 seconds is too long.

If you’re incredibly interesting you can be talking to someone on a road trip for three days and they’ll want to talk to you more as long as you’re saying something interesting.

But when you listen to conversations between friends family members colleagues that are really dynamic and where people don’t want to stop.

They’re doing all of these and they’re not reading a teleprompter but voices get louder sometimes they get soft they get faster sometimes they slow down and of course people pause.

So the real key to using the teleprompter is not creating some new big skill set and learning all of this new technology.

It’s really about talking the way you did with friends four or five years old.

Now the subject matter may be different but it’s about sounding like a real person and sounding natural and that way it doesn’t call attention to the fact that you’re reading on a piece of glass in front of people instead of actually talking to people.

So that’s the goal.

So I want you to record your speech again and this time I want you to focus on those handful of things change the speed change the volume put in pauses and make sure your head moves preferably your whole body doesn’t have to be like this jumping up and down.

But I do recommend that not just your head moves but you lean forward certainly if you’re speaking and standing you can move a little.

Even if there’s a lectern there and you can gesture.

So let’s practice that right now.