Teleprompter for Zoom: Free Setup Guide (Does Zoom Have One?)

On a video call, nobody can see your notes. That makes Zoom one of the best places to use a teleprompter: you can deliver a pitch, an update or a webinar word for word while looking at the camera. The hard parts are placing the script where your eyes look natural, keeping it out of your screen share, and scrolling it without fiddling with your keyboard. This guide covers all three.

How to Set Up a Teleprompter for Zoom (Step by Step)

These setups work with the Zoom desktop app on Mac or Windows and with Zoom in your browser.

Option A: One Screen (Most People)

1. Open SyncVocal in Chrome and paste your script.
2. Resize the SyncVocal window so it's narrow and short, and drag it to the top of your screen, directly under your webcam.
3. Make the text large enough to read at a glance. Start at 48 on the font size slider and go bigger if you have to squint.
4. Open Zoom and keep its window below or beside the script.
5. Turn on Voice in SyncVocal. When you start talking, the script scrolls with you.

Keeping the window narrow matters. Short lines mean your eyes barely move left and right, which is the main thing that gives away reading.

Option B: Two Screens

1. Keep Zoom and your webcam on your main screen.
2. Put SyncVocal on the second screen only if that screen sits right next to the camera. Otherwise, put the script on the main screen under the webcam and move Zoom to the second screen.
3. Turn on Voice and present.

The common mistake is putting the script on a second monitor off to the side. Your audience then sees you looking away for the whole call. The script always belongs next to the camera.

Option C: Phone or Tablet Next to Your Webcam

Prop a phone or tablet just below your webcam and open SyncVocal in its browser. It's the cheapest way to get a separate screen for your script, and it keeps your laptop screen free for Zoom and your slides.

Sharing Your Screen? Keep Your Script Private

This is where most Zoom teleprompter setups go wrong. When you click Share Screen in Zoom, you choose what to share:

• Share a single window (for example, just your slides or just a browser window). Participants see only that window, so a script in a different window stays private. This is the option to use.
• Share your whole screen. Participants see everything, including your teleprompter.

If you present Google Slides with the SyncVocal Chrome extension: the extension's prompter sits on top of your slides, inside the same window. If you share that window, your audience sees the prompter too. For Zoom calls where you share your slides, paste your speaker notes into the SyncVocal web app in a separate window instead, and share only the Slides window. The extension is best when you're presenting in person or on a call where you aren't sharing your screen.

Using Voice Sync During a Zoom Call

Scrolling by hand on a live call is awkward. Keyboard shortcuts can trigger Zoom features or make noise on your mic, and a fixed auto-scroll speed races ahead or falls behind the moment someone interrupts you.

SyncVocal's voice sync listens through your microphone, the same one Zoom uses, and moves the script as you say the words. If someone asks a question and you stop to answer, the script waits. When you go back to your prepared content, it picks up where you left off.

What to Put in Your Zoom Teleprompter Script

Don't script a whole meeting. A fully scripted conversation sounds robotic. Script the structured parts:

• Opening: your hello, a quick agenda, and any housekeeping.
• Key points: each main point with the detail you want to get right.
• Transitions: lines like "Before we get to pricing, let me show you…" are the first thing you forget under pressure.
• Numbers: exact figures, dates and names.
• Close: your ask and the next steps.

A 30-minute call might only need 10–15 minutes of script. Leave the rest for conversation and questions.

Eye Contact Tips for Zoom with a Teleprompter

• Put the text right under your webcam. The closer the words are to the lens, the more it looks like eye contact.
• Hide Zoom's self view. Watching yourself pulls your eyes down. Right-click your own video and choose Hide Self View.
• Use large text and short lines. You read faster and your eyes move less.
• Look straight into the lens for your key points. Two or three seconds of real eye contact on your most important line lands strongly.

Teleprompter Options for Zoom

Prices below are typical ranges and change over time, so check before you buy.

SyncVocal (free, in your browser)

A browser teleprompter that scrolls with your voice, in 30 languages. Free with no time limit; you just need a free account. It runs in its own window, so you place it under your webcam and share only your slides. Best if you want voice scrolling without paying.

Subscription teleprompter apps (typically $15–20/month)

The leading paid teleprompter apps usually include voice scrolling, built-in recording and team features. Many have a free tier with limited voice scrolling. Best if you want recording and collaboration in the same tool.

Zoom Marketplace teleprompter apps (paid, usually a few dollars a month)

Apps you add from the Zoom App Marketplace run inside Zoom, and some stay visible only to you even while you share your screen. They usually come with a short free trial. Best if you want the script inside the Zoom window itself and don't mind paying.

Will People Know I'm Using a Teleprompter?

Not if you set it up well. The giveaways are:

• Eyes sweeping left to right across long lines of text
• A flat, monotone delivery, which comes from a script written to be read rather than spoken
• Pauses while you wait for the next line to scroll up

Short lines under the webcam fix the first. Writing the way you talk fixes the second. Voice sync fixes the third, because the script moves when you do.

Tips for Common Zoom Situations

Sales Calls and Demos

Script your opening, your key value points and your answers to common objections. Leave the live demo unscripted so you can react to the customer.

Job Interviews

Keep short prompts for "tell me about yourself" and your key stories rather than full paragraphs. Interviewers notice word-for-word reading more than any other audience.

Webinars and Training

Script the full presentation, add time markers like "— 10 min —" to stay on schedule, and add Q&A markers so you remember to pause for questions.

Recorded Zoom Videos

For a recording with no live audience, script everything and record as many takes as you need. With nobody watching live, you can use the full-screen teleprompter and skip the window juggling.

FAQ

Does Zoom have a built-in teleprompter?

No. Zoom doesn't include a teleprompter. You can add one from the Zoom App Marketplace or run a browser teleprompter like SyncVocal in a window next to your camera.

Can I use a teleprompter while sharing my screen on Zoom?

Yes. Keep your script in its own window and, in Zoom's Share Screen menu, share only the window you want people to see, such as your slides. Don't share your whole screen.

Is there a free teleprompter for Zoom?

Yes. SyncVocal is free with no time limit and includes voice scrolling. Create a free account (no credit card), paste your script, and place the window under your webcam.

Will the teleprompter app hear the other people on the call?

Voice sync follows your microphone, so it reacts to you speaking. If you use speakers instead of headphones, other people's voices can reach your mic, so headphones give the most reliable scrolling.