1) Newsroom. Volumes of information being spoken, mis-speaks can result in inaccuracies costing reputations and possibly fines. A no-brainer investment.
2) Industrial movie. As I had posted with my Red Camera update, one industrial shoot had dozens of talented young people. Some had memorized the script, some didn't. The producer of the show said they felt the teleprompter had saved them from multiple takes. Producers don't need to tell you how great it is to save an hour or more at the end of the day, or to have to sacrifice quality of their content, just for saving on a prompter.
3) Live television, or live productions. A teleprompter can be a good visual signal as to where people are in the script, reaffirming communication between the producer and the talent. Literally it can help everyone who can see the output stay on the same page.
4) Webcasting. Webcasting is tricky: usually the content is point-of-view, like an opinion, but the talent is usually sitting about 2 feet from their computer, which makes it very intimate. If talent would get hip to better audio (i.e. using a decent wireless lapel mic) they could back off their computer, and their eye travel (motion from left-to-right) as reading would be drastically diminished. If you do use a prompter for webcasting, be sure to practice your controller motions so they are not distracting to you mentally or physically.
5) Quarterly sales events. These are good occasions for management to use a prompter because there are usually arguments made in terms of growth and decisions that are carefully worded. However: these same people that operate like sharks all year long, with Blackberries as their swords and spreadsheets as their shields aren't going to turn into the people you'd want to cast into the commercial for your product overnight. Either they tend to deliver a strictly-vetted statement or they just put up a few number sets usually to get them through. Either way, even if they don't *need* a prompter, having the information in front of them can help root them in a complex discussion of numbers and events. It'll be "there" for them, supporting them as they freely discuss complex ideas. These people think strategically and are usually blessed with some kind of edge. Let them keep it: don't go forcing anyone into a box.
The information in these things can get kind of list-y. Like, "We were up 9 percent in the first quarter, with 50% of our sales coming from 3rd tier vendors, an increase of 2-percent from the same time last year." Where the text is list-y, the talent should also be adding up the meaning of all that information over the course of their script -- what did that mean for the company's / their division's / their performance - are they sad, cool with it, or celebratory. It should add up and register within the individual without being forced, sales-y, or syrup-y.
6. Documentary interviews. You can take the video signal and using a teleprompter device, have the talent look directly into the camera in order to interact with the questioner. That's called an "Interrotron" setup, and is somewhat effective at getting direct contact with the camera because the talent is looking at someone's face splashed on the beamsplitting glass in front of the camera, while the camera just looks directly at the talent/subject. So there can be a greater sense of intimacy with the lens (and therefore, the audience). Just make sure the camera height and angle isn't forcing the subject into unnatural contortions with their neck and posture to look at the person. Eye-to-eye is likely what you're going for, with a flat facial plane for the talent to the camera lens.
7. Any live event (except theater pieces). Live events can put a prompter LCD off to the side, or the script at the foot of the stage, so that hosts and other readers can feel more free. A presidential style prompter can be fine, and let's not allow those insults to the teleprompter president degrade the value of a good presidential (glass on a rod) style prompter for speeches. (I've written about this topic in other blogposts here). Don't blame the prompter for what happens to our country!
I will modify the theater statement: I've been in shows where talent definitely would have benefitted from a prompter nestled in a piece of set furniture or offstage. Some people are in plays for reasons other than their ability to remember their lines, which is fine. Just give them some support and as a producer, don't let them hang out to dry without some kind of text in front of them. Perhaps an audio prompter would be even better but that may lead to unconscious "What? Please repeat that" statements that may throw the play off even more.
8. Training. A day of a prompter setup at your company can be great for feedback in a relaxed setting. People can become comfortable with *not* controlling how the script rolls, and engaging the operator in terms of what they need *before* the event. They'll know what to expect and how to manage it. The talent should be there, as well as their superiors, interacting to make sure the people are aligned with the corporate mission and message and they all are unified aesthetically through the live presentation of the words.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. In any of these cases, even cursory rehearsals can illuminate problems in communication and workflow that can be remedied before airtime. (I'm not assuming a national or local, or even hyper-local newsroom, where bascially yesterday's show was the rehearsal for today. I'm talking about intermittly produced shows, or one-offs.)
Thanks, good luck, and drop me a line if you have any questions or want to book me for something: WorldPrompter [at] Gmail [dot] com.
