1065 – A Better Way to Prompt: Tom talks Elgato TelePrompter

SUMMARY BY CHATGPT

Tom Antion reviews the Elgato TelePrompter, calling it the best teleprompter he’s used in decades of professional video and acting experience. Designed for close-range, desktop use, it’s ideal for webinars, livestreams, Zoom calls, and video recordings.
Key points include:
• Self-contained design: Unlike older teleprompters that require an iPad or phone, the Elgato Prompter has its own built-in screen and connects via a single USB cable for power and data (true plug-and-play).
• DisplayLink technology: Allows the prompter to function as an additional monitor even if your computer has already reached its display limit.
• Camera flexibility: Works with any camera, from high-end DSLRs to inexpensive webcams, using included adapters.
• Improved eye contact: Because content appears directly in front of the camera lens, it creates stronger viewer connection and eliminates the “looking off-screen” problem common in video calls.
• Advanced usability:
o Adjustable text size, color, and margins to reduce visible eye movement
o Ability to view private notes, chats, or even other content without the audience seeing it
o Supports live chat overlays during livestreams
• Hands-free control: Can be operated via an optional foot pedal or integrated with the Elgato Stream Deck for speed control, start/stop, and automation.
• Lightweight mounting options: Can attach directly to the camera lens or use an included bracket that supports both camera and prompter on a tripod.
• Software flexibility: Comes with basic software but also works with higher-end third-party teleprompter apps at low cost.
• Affordable price: Around $279, far cheaper than studio teleprompters and more practical than tying up a $1,000+ phone or tablet.
Tom concludes that the Elgato TelePrompter dramatically improves video delivery, reduces editing time, and offers exceptional value for content creators and business professionals. He also promotes his mentor program and digital marketing school as long-term, high-value investments.

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Episode 1065 – Elgato TelePrompter
[00:00:08] Welcome to Screw the Commute. The entrepreneurial podcast dedicated to getting you out of the car and into the money, with your host, lifelong entrepreneur and multimillionaire, Tom Antion.

[00:00:25] It's Tom here with episode 1065 of Screw the Commute podcast. Today we're going to talk about the Elgato Teleprompter or shortened Elgato Prompter. Now I have other episodes on prompters of 1035 and 1036, part one and part two, where you need to know a lot about teleprompters. And it will really, in some cases, really make your flow go better, cuts out editing time because the ums and ahs are gone. And a lot of good things about getting skilled at teleprompter. Now I was in the actor's union. I still am really after a SAG for 30 plus years, and back in the day we spent a lot of time practicing on teleprompter so that it doesn't look like you're reading, and that takes some practice. However, this new one, this is the best one I've ever seen out of all the ones I've used over the years. And you can like hear about them on 1035 and 1036. Anytime you want to get to a back episode, you go to the episode number. Oh, there's my phone going off. I should turn that thing off. Okay. It's off. So you go to screwthecommute.com, slash, then the episode number. Part one was 1035 and part two was 1036. But this one's 1065 on this really specialized very cool teleprompter. And it's for close range. So it's something that you can do on your desk actually. And it's not for if you're standing up to 15 feet away. No, that's a whole different animal. But this is a close range teleprompter.

[00:02:13] And we'll get into that in a minute. I hope you didn't miss episode 1064. That was the Elgato Stream deck. That's part of my automation. Things that can really can really with one button, make your computer do all kinds of stuff. So that was 1064. And of course I want you to pick up a copy of my automation e-book. Version three is the latest. Version four will have the stuff on the stream deck, but it's not there now. But you can pick that up on episode 164. And of course, check out my mentor program at GreatInternetMarketingTraining.com and my school IMTCVA.org. I'm the only licensed dedicated internet and digital marketing school in the country, probably the world certified to operate by SCHEV, the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia. But you don't have to be in Virginia because its quality distance learning.

[00:03:08] All right. Let's get into the Elgato prompter. So the first thing this is a very lightweight teleprompter that it's got its own screen. So you don't you know the old ones that I used I'd put either a cell phone or an iPad on. So you don't have to do that anymore. It has its own screen and the power to it is easy too. It's got a USB cable and that gives it the power and sends the, uh, the information to it. So it's just a plug and play. Basically what they call it is you plug the cord in, plug it into your computer, and bam, it's ready to go.

[00:03:57] It has this special software called Displaylink because like for instance, I have used up the number of displays my computer will handle. I got three of them here and it'll probably handle one more, but then I have to buy a $250 docking thing to make it work. So in this case, you plug this in and it'll actually work as a display, even though I've maxed out my displays on this iMac. So very cool. Now another thing is to control it. There's all kinds of ways to control the the speed. And, you know, it has software with it and so forth. But you can also get a foot pedal as an extra thing and control the speed and whether it stops and all that stuff. So that's pretty cool. Now here's some of the things this thing will do for you. First of all, in all the training that I do with people, which has been several thousand people over the years. I have to teach them to force themselves. Absolutely. Force themselves to look into the webcam and not at the screen. If they're on a zoom call or or, you know, used to be Skype. I think, uh, I think we had video on Skype. It's been so long, I can't remember. But any kind of video stuff, I've they had to force themselves to look into the camera, which is normally the webcam of the computer, which is almost invisible on most of the edges of most computers or webcam sticking on top of it.

[00:05:39] And your tendency is to look at the people that you're talking to. And then from their perspective, it looks like you're beady eyed and you're not paying attention and you're not really looking at them. There's no connection there. So that's part of the things with teleprompters do. So anyway, this one takes this to another level in that you're looking directly towards your, uh, whatever you're doing on the screen or whatever you're reading right through the camera lens. So it makes a great connection. But this one takes it to another level because all teleprompters do that. Basically, this one allows you to use any kind of camera from a from a great expensive DSLR to the cheapest webcam you can possibly get. Okay. So it has adapters for all these different kinds. So that's cool. Uh, but the some of the extra cool things is that you can look at your presentation on the screen looking directly into the lens, delivering your webinar or whatever it is, and you can have your notes on the side that are visible to you, but not to the public. Very cool thing there. And here's a funny thing you can do. Let's say you're in a business meeting, but it's boring and you're just sitting there supposed to be watching it. You can have a YouTube video on there, or you could have your your sports team playing football and and you're still looking through the camera as if you're like, really into the meeting.

[00:07:23] So that's a cool thing. Then of course you can put your script in there. And again, you've got to practice, like I said, to make it look natural. But what you do is you you make the margins bigger so your eyes aren't going back and forth. See, the closer one of these teleprompters are to you or your camera is to you, the easier it is to see your eyes going back and forth like it's a tennis match. Well, you don't want that. So you can push the margins in so that the text is right in front of. You can change the size, the color, whatever suits your eyes the best. And you can, even if you're doing a live stream, have your chat superimposed where you can see the chats while you're looking directly into the camera. Much greater connection with people that way. And also in yesterday or last episode, 164 on the stream deck, you can connect all of this to your stream deck, because Elgato creates stuff so that it works together that well, so you can control it from your stream deck, or you can purchase that extra foot pedal so you're not doing anything with your hands while you're talking directly into the camera. So. So I'm very excited about this thing. And the other thing about it is the way it comes. It has a bracket, you know, it's so lightweight. They have all these different connectors And you can actually put this connector on the front of your camera, and then just hang the whole teleprompter on the front of your camera off the lens.

[00:09:03] And then all you're doing is sticking your camera on a tripod. If you're a little afraid of that or you don't want things hanging on your lens, you can. They give you this extra mount where the mount and the teleprompter is mounted and then the cameras mounted to that. So it's just a really, really it's the best thing I've ever run into teleprompter wise in all the years I've been doing this. And again, it's not a $3,000 teleprompter you'd see in a TV studio or an $8,000 one. All right. But oh, and one other thing. The the software that comes with it is basic and easy to use, but you can get other teleprompter software that are higher end. I mean, 30 bucks for a year or something or 30 bucks permanently and then use it with this. So. So just very excited about this new thing. Now I don't do a lot anymore. I remember in the old days we used to have Colin holding up 22 pages of paper underneath the lens of the camera, and his arms are shaking by the time I get done with my script. But, uh. But that's all gone now. You can do this all from this, uh, this thing. It's a couple hundred bucks. I think it was $279, but that is super cheap for a teleprompter.

[00:10:23] I got for, I mean, um, now you can get way cheaper than that if you're using your iPad, but your iPad costs a thousand bucks. Your cell phone costs 1200. And then you can't use your cell phone while you know you're doing your teleprompter, right. So, uh, you can't do anything with it because it's tied up on that that teleprompter bracket thing. So way, way better than this self-contained and, uh, very excited about it. All right. So check it out. This is episode 1065, and, uh, check out my mentor program. Greatinternetmarketingtraining.com and my school, IMTCVA.org. It's one of the best legacy gifts you could ever give to somebody. If you're in my mentor program, you get a copy. I mean, you get a scholarship to the school, which you can then gift to someone and be one of the best legacy gifts you could ever give, because it's a highly in demand skill that they can get in as little as six months. The certificate school and we have people making money before they even graduate. All right. So, uh, and if you're in business, you're probably paying a fortune for things that should cost either nothing or or very cheap, but you don't know any better. So this teaches you how to save enormous amounts of money in your business. All right. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. We'll catch you on the next episode. See you later.