Keep eye contact while you read a script

Why reading shows

When you read, your eyes don't glide along a line. They jump a few words at a time, then sweep back to the start of the next line. On camera those movements look like glances away from the viewer. The further the text is from the lens, and the wider each line, the bigger the movements get.

1. Put the words next to the lens

Distance matters most. A script in the middle of the screen puts your eyes well below the camera, and viewers read that as looking down. CamPrompter keeps the line you're reading in a small box right under the front camera, so your eyes barely leave it.

2. Keep lines short

Short lines mean small side-to-side movements. Choose a larger text size so fewer words fit on each line, and write in short sentences. As a bonus, short lines are easier to read without stumbling.

3. Put the camera at eye level

If the phone sits lower than your eyes, you look down at it the whole time, and viewers see the top of your eyelids. Prop the phone up so the front camera is level with your eyes, about an arm's length away. A small tripod or a stack of books does the job.

4. Know the script well enough to glance

Read it aloud once or twice before you record. You'll take in bigger chunks at a time, so your eyes move less often, and you can look up into the lens between phrases. You don't need to memorise it. The guide to reading naturally has more on rehearsing.

5. Steady what's left with Automatic Eye Stabilization

Even with the script right under the lens, the small movements of reading are still there. Automatic Eye Stabilization steadies them when the take is saved. It finds your eyes in every frame and holds each iris where it naturally rests between the corners of your eye, so the quick side-to-side flicks of reading go away.

It doesn't swap your eyes for generated ones. Blinks and the way you move your head stay as they were, and it works on side-to-side movement only, so looking up or down is unchanged. Turn it on in the app's Settings under Eye contact. Saving a take takes a little longer while it works.

Automatic Eye Stabilization is part of CamPrompter Pro on iPhone and iPad. See pricing.

What about a glass teleprompter?

Studio teleprompters reflect the text onto a sheet of glass in front of the lens, so you read straight through the camera. They work very well, but they mean extra gear to carry and set up. For videos you record on your phone, keeping the text right beside the front camera gets you most of the way there with nothing extra.