Running a webinar with a teleprompter

01

Script the spine, not every minute

Write word for word the parts where exact language matters: the welcome and housekeeping, the framing of the problem, transitions between speakers, and the closing call to action. For demos and discussion, use short prompts on their own lines. A fully scripted hour sounds like one, and leaves no room for the audience that showed up live.

02

Decide who drives the scroll

Solo presenters should keep the keyboard within reach and rehearse pausing until it is automatic; a mouse click or a key press mid-sentence should not cost you your place. If someone else operates the prompter, agree on signals in advance: what "slow down" and "jump to the next section" look like, and who owns the scroll during Q&A.

• Solo: rehearse pause, resume, and restart until they are reflexes.
• With an operator: do one full rehearsal with the real script.
• Either way: know how to get back to the top of a section fast.

03

Recover from Q&A without scrolling panic

Questions will arrive out of order and mid-sentence. Pause the scroll while you answer, then resume at the next section landmark instead of hunting for the exact line you left. Heading lines and blank space between sections exist for exactly this moment.

04

Leave room for demos and polls

Mark every screen share, demo, and poll in the script with a cue on its own line, plus one sentence to say while the audience waits for the screen to change. Dead air during a screen switch reads as technical trouble; a prepared sentence reads as confidence.

05

Rehearse the whole hour once

Run the full session end to end at real pace, including the fake question you plant for yourself. Note where the script runs long, where the scroll fights you, and which transitions need a written bridge. Fix those before the invite goes out, not during the live event.