My Teleprompter Never Shows A Script. Here's Why.

AI Summary of Key Points

Lance gives a behind-the-scenes tour of his video studio setup, focusing on his teleprompter rig and the gear that makes his recording space work.

Teleprompter setup

• A standard teleprompter mirror with a canvas hood around the camera

• A 10-inch flip-capable monitor (around $65) that most people overlook because dedicated teleprompter monitors are far more expensive

• The 10-inch size is the sweet spot: big enough to read, small enough that your eyes don't drift

Other monitors

• A secondary "share monitor" used for screen sharing and everyday work, purchased from B&H Photo Video (which Lance recommends over Amazon for service)

Studio space

• A 10x11 room in his house

• Key light with a grid (boomed off the wall) for directional lighting

• Fill light to soften shadows

• Boom microphone overhead plus a backup mic just out of frame

• Sony ZV-E10 camera on a standard tripod

• Desk mount holding the microphone and fill light

Core philosophy

• The teleprompter sits at the center of the setup because the studio is designed to always be video-ready — part of his broader "video optimized office" approach

All right, a couple of components I want to point out while we've got the screen split. I'm going to go full screen. Let's go full screen and pin this. There we go.

Now I want to explain what we're doing. The teleprompter right here is just a little mirror. There's a small canvas hood that goes around the camera. Then you need a screen to show what's on your computer. I'll tell you, most screens that can flip upside down and left to right are extremely expensive because they're sold as teleprompter monitors.

I found this 10 inch monitor for about 65 bucks and it can flip both ways. I don't know why people aren't making a bigger deal about this, because it's a huge game changer for me. It's a 10 inch screen. Big enough that I can look at it, but not so big that my eyes wander back and forth when I'm reading. That's the key with a teleprompter. You need it big enough to see, but not so big that your eyes drift around on the screen.

I'll put a link in the comments for that screen, so if you're curious about how to build this yourself, the link will be there. Let me pick this up so you can see. I have to be careful. It's a touch screen. The screen just floats around like that. I could lock it in if I wanted to, but I typically just leave it as is.

The other thing is this monitor down here. I call it my share monitor. Not "share" like Sonny and Cher, although that would be funny. It's just the monitor I use for screen sharing. I actually find I use it quite a bit in my normal work too. That link goes to B&H Photo Video. If you can order something from B&H instead of Amazon, do it. Their service is unbelievable. They know their stuff. Prices are usually the same as Amazon, or a little better.

So that's that. Now I'm going to get up, take my camera around, and give you a behind the scenes perspective. This is kind of an unusual live stream, I get that. But let's do it for a second so I can show you around my studio and you can see how this teleprompter works.

It's going to be a bumpy ride. I'm also switching microphones. Muting this one, using the one on my phone. Hopefully this works.

Okay, let's give you a tour of the studio. You can see me standing here. You can see my TV is doing something weird. This is the view you're used to seeing. Here's what we've got.

I use a key light boomed off the wall. This one has a grid, which means when you're right in front of it the light is very bright. But when we go to the side, the light disappears. We're controlling where the light goes. This is the key light. This one is the fill light, which just relieves some of the shadows. This microphone is boomed over like I'm on a movie. And this microphone is just out of the screen frame you're seeing from the front. But it's there for sure.

I'm using multiple monitors. You already saw that monitor and that monitor. Now let me walk around the studio.

Here's the ugly stuff above my studio. This is in a 10 by 11 room in my house. There you can see my very comfortable stool. I cleaned up today, by the way, so you'd be impressed with me.

Now let's look at where the magic happens. I'll turn my overhead light on temporarily so you can see. There's the camera, and we're looking into the teleprompter. This little camera is just a Sony ZV-E10. I have a special lens on it now. Very cool. It mounts to this tripod. Any old tripod will do. I've got a desk mount holding my microphone and my fill light. Some other things are ready to go, but I don't use them.

You can see this teleprompter is the middle of my setup, because I want my video to always be ready to go. That was the whole premise of the video optimized office stuff I've been doing for a while.