If you like to use a teleprompter or autocue when you give a speech, here’s a question. What do you do when there’s a teleprompter freeze? It’s a question that’s on the minds of many public speakers who commit themselves to teleprompter technology for giving speeches.
The fear of losing autocue can cause as much anxiety as the fear of not having it at all. A zero sum game.
No doubt Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska, had that anxiety some years ago. She was giving a speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines in 2015, when the teleprompter froze in mid-sentence.
Now a teleprompter freeze is a problem for any speaker. But for Sarah Palin who had already indicated an interest in the 2016 Presidential elections it could have been a calamity.
Her response to the teleprompter freeze? She kept going. Or rather, she kept speaking, albeit a load of nonsensical gibberish…her speech went into meltdown.
Teleprompter Freeze Causes Meltdown
She didn’t appear to pause or hesitate with her speech. Instead she began a seemingly meaningless rant.
Things must change for our government. Look at it. It isn’t too big to fail. It’s too big to succeed! It’s too big to succeed, so we can afford no retreads or nothing will change with the same people and same policies that got us into the status quo. Another Latin word, status quo, and it stands for ‘Man, the middle-class everyday Americans are really gettin’ taken for a ride.’ That’s status quo, and GOP leaders, by the way, y’know the man can only ride ya when your back is bent. So strengthen it. Then the man can’t ride ya. America won’t be taken for a ride, because so much is at stake and we can’t afford politicians playing games like nothing more is at stake than, oh, maybe just the next standing of theirs in the next election.
Wow! Despite, or maybe because of this, she received a standing ovation from her appreciative audience.
What to Do if Your Teleprompter Fails
Let's be honest. A teleprompter freeze or failure is rare. Very rare. A more typical problem involves you the speaker straying from the script without warning. The teleprompter handler speeds up to a new section and then you are both lost! Try to follow these tips if there's a freeze.
- 1Practise your teleprompter technique beforehand. And do make sure that you practise with the teleprompter handler. They must know your voice, delivery style and pace.
- 2Speak slowly or in a measured fashion. Speech "signposts" will also be useful.
- 3Pause deliberately and especially for the applause point.
- 4If you want to go off script, then give a warning to the teleprompter handler. Try something along the lines of..."I know we've got some important things to talk through today. But just forgive me for this brief digression...and then we'll do point 3 etc." It's natural and the teleprompter handler will cue you up ready for a return to the script.
- 5If the system should freeze, and it's a rarity, be prepared with your own paper script or cue cards. They're not old-fashioned! They're still very valuable. It will be fine.
But what would you do? We know that President Obama had a plan B when he actually lost his speech teleprompter. Autocue practice is probably the best option! Of course, you can discover more interesting pointers for giving your speech, with a teleprompter or with a script, when you ask us to run a team public speaking event at your offices.
Alternatively, you can always enroll on an online public speaking course whenever you are ready to develop your skills further.
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