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Quick answer
A teleprompter read looks obvious for three fixable reasons: the script sits too far from the lens, the scroll pace does not match how the speaker actually talks, and the script is written as prose rather than speech. Fixing the placement first has the biggest effect.
There is no trick, only geometry
A teleprompter puts your script close to the lens so you can read it while appearing to look at the camera. That is the whole mechanism. Newsreaders, politicians, and everyone you have ever watched deliver something flawlessly are all doing exactly this, and the only difference between them and you is how close the words are to the glass.
The three things that give it away
Placement, which is most of it
The further the script sits from the lens, the wider the angle between where your eyes are pointed and where the camera is. Get it as close as the rig physically allows. If you can only fix one thing, fix this one, because it is worth more than the other two put together.
Pacing
A speed that does not match how you actually talk makes your eyes dart ahead or fall behind, hunting for your place. That hunting is what people are seeing when they say something looks read. Let the script follow your voice and it disappears.
How the script was written
Prose does not survive being spoken. Long sentences, formal connectors, passive constructions. All of it sounds stiff out loud no matter how well you deliver it, and no amount of good placement will save a sentence that nobody would ever actually say.
Setting up, start to finish
1
Write it the way you talk
Short sentences. Contractions. Say "you", not "one". Read every line out loud before it goes in, and if you stumble over it at your desk, rewrite it, because you will definitely stumble over it on camera.
2
Get the script as close to the lens as physically possible
Directly below it. Touching the camera housing if your rig allows. If you are using the camera-behind-script setup, this is already solved, because you are literally looking at the lens.
3
Set a size you can read without leaning
If you move your head towards the screen, it is too small. Around 48 to 56 px at arm's length. Narrow the column so each line is five to eight words, which stops your eyes travelling sideways.
4
Let the pace follow you
Voice Follow means the script moves at your speed rather than a number you guessed earlier. If you are on smooth scroll instead, pick a speed you are comfortable with and stop fiddling with it, because the reach is visible.
5
Shoot thirty seconds and watch it back
At normal size, not zoomed in. Zooming in exaggerates eye movements nobody can see at actual viewing distance, and you will end up fixing things that were never broken.
The stumble problem, which nobody talks about
Here is something that sounds like superstition and is not. People who know they can recover from a mistake cleanly make fewer mistakes. If a fluffed line means restarting the whole take, every sentence carries a bit of dread, and dread makes you fluff lines.
Mark your script with sections. Then a stumble means jumping to the top of that block and going again, with everything before it still good. The pressure drops, and so does the error rate. It is the most reliable delivery improvement available and it takes about ninety seconds to set up.
Frequently asked questions
Why does it look obvious when someone reads from a teleprompter?
Usually three things at once: the script is too far from the lens, the pace does not match how they talk so their eyes are hunting, and the script was written as prose rather than speech. Fixing the placement helps most.
How close should the script be to the camera?
As close as your setup physically allows. Directly below the lens. A camera-behind-script setup solves it entirely, because you are looking at the lens while you read.
What font size should I use?
Around 48 to 56 px at arm's length, with the column narrow enough that each line holds five to eight words. If you have to lean in, it is too small.
Do I need expensive equipment?
No. A phone or laptop you already own is fine. A glass rig improves the angle further but is unnecessary for almost everything most people shoot.
How do I stop stumbling so much?
Mark your script into sections. Knowing you can jump back and retake one block rather than restarting the whole thing takes the pressure off every sentence, and less pressure means fewer stumbles.