Teleprompter and on-camera reading terms
These are the words that come up while reading a script on a Mac, on a call, in a recording, or behind a camera. Each one is defined the way you would find it in a dictionary or a Mac help guide, in plain terms.
- Beam splitter
A teleprompter rig that uses angled glass to reflect a monitor's script onto the same optical path as the lens, so the reader can look at the words while staying on or near the lens. Stinger's Mirror text option flips the panel horizontally for exactly this kind of rig.
- Continuity Camera
An Apple feature that lets an iPhone act as a wireless or wired webcam for a Mac. Once connected, it appears as a camera source alongside the Mac's built-in camera and any external webcams in apps that list camera inputs.
- Dock
The row of icons, usually at the bottom of the screen, used to launch and switch between apps on a Mac. An app that appears in the Dock is running as a normal, visible application rather than a hidden background process.
- Eye line
The direction a speaker's eyes point relative to the camera lens.
Text or notes placed away from the lens pull the eye line off-camera, which reads to viewers as a person looking down or aside rather than at them.
- Hotkey
A keyboard shortcut that triggers an action regardless of which app is currently in focus. A global hotkey, such as ⌘P for play and pause, lets a reader control a background app like a teleprompter without switching windows or moving their eyes away from the lens.
- Line nudge
A small manual jump forward or backward in the script, moving the lit line without changing scroll mode. On the phone remote, nudges sit next to play/pause and section jumps, useful when you want to skip ahead or back a line without touching Auto, Voice, or Track.
The strip of menus running along the top of the screen on a Mac, giving access to an app's commands. Most Mac apps, including background utilities, keep a menu here even when their main window isn't visible.
- Notch
The cutout at the top of the screen on newer MacBook models, housing the camera. It sits directly above the visible display area, which makes it a natural place to anchor a small on-screen panel close to the lens.
- On-device processing
Computation that happens on the local machine rather than being sent to a remote server over the internet. For a feature that listens to a microphone, on-device processing means the audio is analyzed on the Mac itself and never leaves it.
- Rehearsal
A practice run-through of a script before the real recording or call, done to catch stumbles, awkward phrasing, or timing issues. Rehearsing aloud, at the pace intended for the real read, surfaces problems that reading silently on a page does not.
- Screen recording
The capture of some or all of a display's contents to a video file, done with tools such as QuickTime, OBS, or Loom. What appears in a screen recording is what a viewer sees later, so anything meant to stay private to the person at the keyboard needs to be excluded before recording starts.
The act of showing all or part of a computer's display to other people on a video call, using software such as Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams. Anything visible on screen at the time is generally visible to everyone on the call, unless an app is specifically excluded from capture.
- Scroll speed
The rate at which a script moves through the visible reading area, usually measured in lines or words per minute. A fixed scroll speed suits a steady, rehearsed read; a speed that's too fast forces the reader to chase the text, and one too slow leaves them waiting.
- Speech recognition
The process by which software converts spoken words into text it can match or act on. On a Mac, speech recognition can run entirely on-device, meaning the audio being analyzed is processed locally rather than sent to a server.
- Take
A single, continuous recorded attempt at a piece of video, from start to stop. Speakers often record several takes of the same script and keep the best one, rather than assuming the first attempt will be usable.
- Teleprompter
A device or app that displays a script near a camera lens so a speaker can read while appearing to look at the camera. On a Mac, the script sits in a panel positioned close to the built-in camera, so the eyes stay near the lens instead of dropping to notes on the desk or a separate screen.
Questions
Why do my eyes look like they're not on the camera when I read from a script?
Your eyes are on the words, and if the words aren't near the lens, your eye line drifts away from it. Any gap between where the text sits and where the camera is creates a visible angle, so scripts placed on a second monitor or a phone taped to the desk tend to produce the classic 'reading' look.
Does speech recognition for a teleprompter send my voice anywhere?
Not when it runs on-device, meaning the audio is processed locally on the Mac rather than sent to a server. Track mode's speech recognition runs on-device, on the Mac, and that audio never leaves it.
Why do I lose my place when I ad-lib or skip a line while reading a script?
A script that scrolls on a fixed timer keeps moving whether or not your words match it, so any detour puts you behind or ahead of the text. A mode that follows the actual words you say, rather than the clock, catches up when you go off-script and finds your place again when you return to it.
How does Track mode know where I am if I skip ahead or go off script?
Track mode only moves the lit line when your words match the script, within a bounded window so a misheard word can't jump you far ahead. If you ad-lib, it holds its place and catches up once you return to the text; re-reading a sentence pulls the lit line back to it.
Updated September 12, 2026