Choosing the right equipment for your production, like camera, location, sound, and a teleprompter is essential. A second factor, is how well the speaker and teleprompter operator work together. These two elements could ultimately make or break your presentation.
Why use a teleprompter?
Teleprompters help speakers present their material through direct eye contact, rather than being seen reading their message off notes or cue cards. Whether live or recorded, eye contact is essential in communication. Our eyes reflect our comfort, sincerity, and trust when speaking. When a speaker is freed from memorization, they can relax and concentrate, making a direct connection with your audience.
Teleprompters speed up your day and ensure your messages are delivered as intended. When using a prompter for the first time with a professional operator, people often say, “This is great! I feel much more confident with the prompter.”
Do I still need a teleprompter operator?
A teleprompter operator can be said to be an actor, politician, or CEO’s best friend when it comes to delivering a script. The operator’s job is to precisely match the cadence and speech of the presenter, word for word. Even when the presenter paraphrases or departs from the script with an anecdote or improvisation, an experienced operator will follow the presenter and pick up when they get back on-script.
A rehearsal with the teleprompter operator can be the difference between a broadcast disaster or a successful presentation. A good operator will become familiar with the speaker’s style and patterns. This will allow the operator to suggest simple edits that will enhance the smoothness of the speaker’s delivery.
The operator typically sits at the back of the house tech table or backstage, preferably with headphones, in order to monitor the speaker and track changes.
So why hire professional teleprompter operators in the San Francisco Bay Area?
No Learning Curve
All of our operators are well experienced in the production of political, non-profit, sporting, corporate videos, commercials, plus live events too. They have been tempered in the fire of high-pressure situations and performed with grace. You never know when things suddenly change and we’ll have to yank out a car battery to provide power to the prompter in a rain storm or cling to the exterior of a piece of huge earth moving equipment on a testing field. Yes, teleprompting can be far more exciting than you might suspect!
Teleprompting is something of an art. As such, it isn’t a job you would entrust to someone without experience. Our clients have remarked after using our services, “We debated about budgeting for a prompter and operator, but we got through so much more material and were able to wrap early. It was worth every penny. You’ll be our secret weapon from now on!”
No Equipment Compatibility Concerns
When we first connect with you, we ask questions to choose the right gear for your event. As seasoned professionals, our operators have extensive knowledge of the equipment and software we use. We are also well aware that everything has limits and strong points. If, for some rare reason, something isn’t working properly, or the event parameters change on-site, we are quick to identify a solution.
Adaptable Operators
We have experienced plenty of curve balls over our collective 50 years in this business: whether it’s a big star’s unusual demand, a novel technical configuration, or working in a foreign language.
Recently, we had a client who informed us that the five hours of teleprompting we were going to do the next day would be in both Cantonese and Mandarin characters. We were prepared with our software options so it came off without a hitch. We’ve also handled presentations in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and a rare form of Gaelic spoken only in the Hebrides Islands of Scotland!
Even if you’re only speaking in English, when you hire Neil Tanner Teleprompters, you get operators that are efficient, professional, and make you look great.
Pro-Client Attention
We go the extra mile by offering teleprompter training. Using a prompter is a learned skill, but one that is easily learned. The big trick is making the prompter “disappear”.
And we pay attention to our client’s needs. We take that laser focus to the next level to help you achieve your production goals. Lots of last minute changes? No problem! We can get that fixed right away.
Less Stress
At the basic level, teleprompter operators convert your existing script into readable prompter format in big letters that flow smoothly on a screen.
However as seasoned operators, we take great pains to create immediate visual comprehension when we format your script. We add breaks for breath and stage cues in a different color if desired. We even know to use special fonts and formatting for people with dyslexia. We work with your presenter to emphasize key words and help them really own what they’re saying.