Things You'll Need:
- Easel-style table
- Sheet of Glass
- Laptop
- Camera
- Software
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Step 1
You can create a homemade teleprompter using a laptop and a piece of glass or plastic. You need to create a drafting table but with the table flat and lower. You will need to add some poles that you can attach the glass piece to at an angle. This can also be made with simple plywood and sides cut to a height that is close to your camera height. Make sure the glass is secure so there are no accidents.
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Step 2
The best position to lay the laptop screen flat and put the glass at a 45-degree angle above it and directly in front of the camera.
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Step 3
The reflection will appear in front of the camera, so when you read the text it will look like you are talking to the audience.
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Step 4
There is software that flips the text on the screen. One of the many is Inteliprompter by BayCoastGroup. They can be expensive.
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Step 5
There are other ways to accomplish this. I found one way to do this using InDesign by Adobe. Open up InDesign. I placed my text into InDesign in the format and style that I wanted. You need to make the background black with white letters. I suggest a font that you like and in the size 36. You will be reading this from far away.
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Step 6
Then you need to flip the image horizontally from the Output settings in InDesign’s Print window. Then save the file to disk as a .ps file.
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Step 7
Then convert the file into a PDF so that the laptop could read the file. There is plenty of PDF Converter software available. You can attach your mouse to an extension cable so you can click when you need to.
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Step 8
You will be able to test your homemade teleprompter and read your script.
