Anchoring and Teleprompters 101

Ready? Five, four, three, two, start your move, Mike, queue.

Hi everybody, I'm Yasmin Vosugian and I'm an anchor for MSNBC.

I've been a journalist for over 20 years and an anchor half that time. I've been at the desk for so many breaking news situations like the death of Prince, mass shootings in Texas and Vegas and so, so much more.

You can usually see me every weekend, Saturdays and Sundays right here from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

So when you watch TV and streaming news, you usually see a person hosting the newscast like I'm doing right now.

Anchoring is all about delivering the news to you in a seamless way. We have a lot of tools to help make that happen, and one of those tools in the anchor toolbox is...

...the teleprompter, which is what I'm reading off of right now. Today, we want to talk to you about teleprompters and how they work.

And then give you some tips on just how to do it if you want to try it out.

First, I want to explain to you how a teleprompter actually works.

Teleprompters, they have small screens that display the script.

The script is then reflected by a mirror, which sits over the lens of the camera.

The small screen shows the script but flipped, so when it's bounced off the mirror, I can read it.

Hopefully you got that.

So teleprompters allow us to read the script and look directly into the camera at the very same time.

It helps us connect with the viewer by maintaining eye contact, which is crucial, of course, to the success of a news broadcast.

So some teleprompters are operated automatically, advancing when it registers your voice.

Others are advanced by anchors who have a remote control themselves.

Here at MSNBC, we have teleprompters operated automatically and by hand by a prompter operator, as the prompter operator is doing at this moment.

This helps us adjust on the fly and keeps the prompter flexible, especially in those breaking news situations.

So teleprompters, they help anchors keep the audience engaged, keeping us on track and focused with what we're talking about in a plan.

But reporters and anchors, they should also learn to sound more natural when they're reading the script, so it doesn't sound like you're just reading.

I want to give you some tips to owning your delivery on set and sounding as natural as possible reading off of it.

So first, take your time and breathe.

That's the most important.

Speak as clearly as possible and at a good pace.

Try not to be nervous. I know it's tough, a lot of times you're on TV when you're reading a teleprompter, but it's going to be okay.

Talk to the audience like you would talk to a friend.

Viewers don't want to hear you tell them a story as like a complete stranger in a different language.

As an anchor, I don't always write my own scripts.

I work with a team of producers and writers.

A team that I trust to help me put a show together.

But anchors should always review their scripts ahead of time.

That way you know what's coming.

And you should be familiar with what you're about to say and then what you just said.

Make sure your script is written in a way that's conversational.

And also in a way that you yourself would say it.

Sometimes you're going to want to pronounce things in a certain way and you need help with that.

Maybe you have a guest coming on your show who you haven't met before and you want to pronounce their name correctly, and you should, by the way.

Practice pronunciation of your guest names beforehand.

But also consider writing their names down phonetically in the script, so when it comes up in the prompter, you'll be able to read it correctly.

Imagine it someone tossing to me and having to pronounce Vosoughian (Vah-Sue-Gee-In) over and over again.

You're probably going to want to put that phonetically in the prompter.

So what happens if the prompter stops working during the show?

It happens.

Machines break, it happens.

And that's another reason why you have to be prepared.

We have backup paper scripts in front of us here that we can use if something goes wrong, if the prompter goes down.

Some anchors, they like to have all their scripts and questions on elements and paper backup.

Remember, a teleprompter, it is just another tool in the toolbox.

It's not the only thing.

You also have to read, read, read.

You got to be prepared as possible on the people that you're interviewing and about the stories that you're reading.

It is important to know the topic that you're about to discuss backwards and forwards.

Anchors are journalists first and foremost, which means that we need to get everything right.

I hope today you've learned something new about teleprompters, anchoring, and how we make the news happen.

For NBCU Academy, I'm Yasmin Vosoughian.

Thank you for watching.