Have you ever considered using an online teleprompter for your presentations?

A laptop-based teleprompter projects a speaker's words onto a transparent panel in front of a camera lens, obscuring the speech text from the audience.

Online teleprompters accomplish the same thing without expensive hardware and high prices. They allow speakers to see what they need to say without losing eye contact with the audience. When a speaker constantly flips through a written speech, audience members will focus less on your message.

With online teleprompters, speakers no longer have to rely on their memories to deliver powerfully persuasive speeches. They appear more polished and professional without the stumbling over words and awkward pauses that can kill credibility.

In this article, we’ll cover the following topics:

• The differences between online teleprompters and conventional ones
• The importance of automatic scrolling in a teleprompter
• Why an online teleprompter needs to be easy to use and intuitive

Differences between traditional and online teleprompters

There’s virtually no difference in functionality between a conventional teleprompter and an online one. Like hardware-based teleprompters, online teleprompters allow you to flawlessly deliver spoken content without looking down at a written document every two seconds.

Purchasing a teleprompter subscription is much cheaper than buying outrageously priced teleprompter equipment, which can cost thousands of dollars. Online teleprompters are a perfect alternative for teams or businesses who need to use one but don't have the budget for a traditional teleprompter.

Besides, you need physical space for a traditional teleprompter, while an online one only exists in the virtual world. That means you can replicate the experience of a conventional teleprompter without taking up a lot of space.

Imagine you're sitting in front of your laptop about to make a crucial presentation to investors in a city thousands of miles away from your corporate home base.

The benefits of an online teleprompter for your laptop

If you're afraid you won't remember what you need to say when speaking during a webinar, online meeting, or live stream, then consider getting an online teleprompter for your laptop.

It provides all the functionality of a teleprompter without the hefty hardware costs!

A virtual teleprompter frees you from memorizing a speech because you can read your script off a computer screen. This can give you that extra edge you need to supercharge your presentation skills.

You'll be able to speak more naturally with teleprompter software than you can with written notes. That's because you can keep your gaze firmly fixated on the camera instead of constantly looking down at your script.

This gives the appearance that you're looking into the eyes of every single presentation participant, which boosts engagement.

To be more genuine when presenting, you need to look up at your audience every so often. Using teleprompter software on a laptop helps you stay in place.

That way, you won't forget where you left off.

Can using a teleprompter app on your laptop improve your work life?

If you're an employee of a business moving to a hybrid work model, the answer to that question is a resounding "yes."

According to a study, 30% of employees worked remotely at least part of the time before the COVID-19 crisis. Even though the pandemic is (primarily) drawing to a close, the percentage isn’t expected to drop significantly.

This means that more people than ever will be hybrid workers, which means they'll work at home and in the office.

In this new era of virtual work, people need tools to overcome the barriers to engaging with an online audience. One such tool is virtual teleprompters.

Features to look for in a virtual teleprompter for your laptop

Operating systems and meeting platform compatibility

Your virtual laptop teleprompter should seamlessly integrate with all meeting platforms, such as Zoom, Webex, and MS Teams.

Otherwise, you might be unable to use it when you want. That means a virtual teleprompter's fantastic benefits—such as the ability to make direct eye contact with audience members while reading your script—won't be available to you.

Besides meeting platforms, an online teleprompter should be compatible with Windows and Mac operating systems. That's because if you have a Windows computer and other presenters have a Mac, everyone will be able to use the same subscription for all their teleprompter needs.

That way, your team won't waste time learning how to use a different teleprompter. At VODIUM, our app is compatible with both operating systems and most meeting platforms, making it more versatile than many other online teleprompters.

Affordably priced

You want your laptop teleprompter to be reasonably priced, don’t you?

At VODIUM, we're guessing you probably don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a virtual teleprompter. That's why we offer affordable and flexible monthly and discounted yearly subscriptions.

If you’re planning to use VODIUM for your organization as a whole, you can contact us for bulk and enterprise pricing that works for you!

We offer a free 14-day trial so you can experience our app's impressive functionality firsthand before making a decision.

Able to import and export text

Your virtual laptop teleprompter should let you import and export text easily without losing your careful formatting. That way, if you wrote a speech on your desktop and are on the road with your laptop, you can tweak your script on the fly.

Adjustable scroll speed options

A good teleprompter app has variable scroll speed to add variety to your vocal delivery.

When speaking virtually, you'll want to ensure that you don't talk at one constant speed. That's because, without pace variation, you're in danger of sounding like a robot.

Varying the speed of your speech makes it more attractive for meeting participants. For example, if you want to express your excitement for your company's new product offering, speak more quickly.

Slow it down when you want your words to have more gravitas, such as when you must communicate the new competitive threats your company is facing.

When vocal delivery speed doesn't vary, it's challenging for your audience to maintain interest in what you have to say.

Allows you to stay engaged with your audience

When speaking to a virtual crowd, you'll want to see how receptive they are to what you're saying. Unfortunately, not all virtual teleprompters let you do this, depriving you of valuable feedback you could have used to improve your presentations.

VODIUM's transparency controls let you see your audience behind the app. This allows you to stay engaged with them and gauge their reactions.

That way, you can get immediate feedback on whether your ideas were a big flop or a resounding success.

What's more, you'll be able to view and interact with meeting participants, which you couldn't do if you were using a full-screen Word Doc or PDF file to look at the words of your script.

Enables direct eye contact

Many things change when meetings and interviews move from being face-to-face to being primarily virtual.

One of these things is that direct eye contact, which is so vital for engagement, becomes a bit more challenging. Making eye contact is hard during online meetings without a technological aid.

That aid is a virtual teleprompter.

No hybrid work toolkit is complete without one. The intuitive controls of an online teleprompter mean there's not much of a learning curve when first learning to use one. You can adjust overlay transparency, scroll speed, font size, text and background colors, and more at the press of a button.

Your audience will feel like you're looking directly at them when what you're really doing is reading your script off the app.

Your secret is safe because nobody in your audience can see the teleprompter.

No more written notes

In virtual meetings, seeking help from assistants because you forgot a crucial talking point is considered unprofessional.

So is digging through piles of paperwork to find the notes you need when elaborating on an important point.

With a virtual teleprompter for your laptop, your digital notes are directly in your line of sight. This allows you to access them without breaking eye contact with your virtual audience.

Variable font sizes

You don't want to squint when delivering an important business presentation because the font size is too small. That could seriously undermine the effectiveness of what you have to say.

When you squint, you make it painfully obvious that you're reading a script rather than making it appear you're delivering an impromptu speech.

That's why you must choose a virtual teleprompter that lets you change the text size in settings. Having this ability also enables you to adjust pacing.

For example, a bigger text size means the scrolling will be faster.

3 things to avoid with online teleprompters

Steep Learning Curve

While there are certainly people out there who are naturally tech-savvy, many become hopelessly confused with overly complicated systems.

If you’re one of those many, you probably don't want to spend precious time learning to use complex and difficult-to-deploy technology. You want something intuitive.

Avoid online teleprompters with a steep learning curve. VODIUM offers an exceptionally user-friendly experience that'll make all your presentations shine like never before.

Operating system incompatibility

The world is currently split between Apple and PC users. Unfortunately, the software is usually created with one system in mind.

That’s not the case with VODIUM, which is suited for both operating systems. If you choose to go with a different type of computer somewhere down the line, you’ll be able to keep the same online teleprompter and won’t have to learn how to use a new one.

Furthermore, VODIUM is platform agnostic, meaning it supports all video conferencing platforms, including Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and WebEx.

Overly expensive

Of course, this might go without saying. You don’t want to spend too much on an online teleprompter, do you?

Online teleprompters should be reasonably priced so companies of all sizes can use them. At VODIUM, we offer flexible monthly or discounted yearly subscriptions at an affordable price.

We even offer a free 14-day trial. Just open the app, and you're ready to start!

Get all the teleprompter features you need with VODIUM

Maybe you need to deliver a killer business presentation without time to commit it to memory. Or you’re looking for a cost-effective alternative to outrageously expensive teleprompter hardware. Perhaps you even suffer from a crippling case of glossophobia, the fear of public speaking.

In any of these cases, consider trying VODIUM.

We’ve built our intuitive app to save you time, stress, and the humiliation of not being prepared for presentations. With our easy-to-use technology, you’ll crush every one of your virtual speeches while maintaining direct eye contact with your audience. Get started today!