Mode selection
Manual vs. voice-activated teleprompter: which should you choose?
Neither manual scrolling nor voice tracking is universally superior. The right choice depends on whether your priority is strict timing, conversational freedom, or offline resilience.
Updated August 23, 2026
01
When Manual fixed-speed scrolling wins
Manual mode maintains a constant elapsed-time speed regardless of room noise or acoustic interruptions. It is the best choice for:
- Time-critical keynote speeches where you have a hard stop (e.g., exactly 10 minutes).
- Live stages with heavy acoustic feedback, loud PA systems, or audience applause.
- Offline presentations in venues with zero internet or strict browser permissions.
- Presenters who prefer pacing their delivery against a metronomic visual guide.
02
When Smart Pace rhythm following wins
Smart Pace listens to speech presence without speech-to-text. It adjusts scroll rate dynamically and pauses automatically when you stop to take a breath, answer a quick question, or show a prop.
Because it requires zero download and zero model initialization, Smart Pace is the recommended default for YouTube creators, online teachers, and casual video calls.
03
When Private Precision word alignment wins
Private Precision Beta downloads an on-device Whisper model to match spoken words against script tokens. It is ideal when you need the prompter to track your exact location through longer takes where you might ad-lib, repeat a line, or skip a sentence.
Because the model runs locally, your script and voice never touch a cloud server, but it does require a modern laptop or desktop with sufficient memory.
04
Summary comparison table
Here is how the three modes compare on key production criteria:
- Manual: 0 MB download, 0% CPU overhead, no mic required, fixed pacing.
- Smart Pace: 0 MB download, <1% CPU overhead, microphone required, rhythm following.
- Private Precision: ~67 MB one-time download, moderate CPU overhead, microphone required, verbatim script tracking with Smart Pace fallback.
05
The hybrid recommendation
For most creators, start with Smart Pace. If you find yourself frequently pausing or improvising and want position recovery, enable Private Precision Beta. If you are speaking in an auditorium or on a stage, switch to Manual.