Interview vs. Teleprompter – Strengths and Weaknesses

Interview or teleprompter? If your video will include a person speaking on-camera, these are the two basic methods that you can choose. For an interview, your on-camera subject will answer a series of questions put forth by the video producer, then the video editor will select the best segments of the interview to be included. For a teleprompter, the on-camera subject reads a prewritten script which is reflected in front of the camera lens while the camera is rolling, then the resulting video will include exactly what was scripted. Whether your video uses interviews or a teleprompter largely depends on the feel and style that you want to convey.

#ProTip: Interviews are more organic, while a teleprompter is more controllable.

Take a look at this video and this video. Both were filmed for the same company with the same person on-camera. The interview, by its very nature, feels more organic, conversational, and personable, but it took longer to shoot because the video producer needed to gather enough information. The teleprompter video took less time to film and is shorter because the script was controlled, while the resulting video feels more measured and straight-forward. The difference is similar to a freestyle versus a choreographed dance: both are engaging, both beautiful, but each simply works better in different circumstances.

Katie Rutter is the executive producer of Thing in a Pot Productions. She has received multiple awards for her videos and the overall quality of her work, including being honored as Video Producer of the Year in 2018 by the Catholic Press Association.