Teleprompters: 5 Fast Facts

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Fact #1. The teleprompter was invented in 1950. It had the specific intent of helping TV actors with their lines. Up until this point, TV producers relied on cue cards to perform a similar service. If you've watched any Saturday Night Live in the past 15 years, you've seen how awkward heavily relying on cue cards can make a performance.
Fact #2. Early models were mechanical. They were operated by a technician who stood below or beside the camera. Herbert Hoover used one in 1952 at the Republican National Convention. Dwight Eisenhower broke new ground by being the first president to use one during the State of the Union Address. Now that they've become computerized, you'd be hard-pressed to find a politician, news anchor, or host of any kind speaking without one.
Fact #3. The device works by situating itself between you and the camera, just in front of the lens. A timed, computerized feed of your speech's text flows along a screen that faces the ceiling. From there, it's all in a reflection. The text coming out of the screen is upside down and reversed. When it hits a piece of beam splitting glass, the text appears as normal.
Fact #4. The beam splitting does a great job keeping the light from your screen from ever reaching your camera lens. However, that may render your text display too dim. However brightly you can display the text means the difference between straining your eyes to the point of damage and appearing relaxed and confident on screen.
Fact #5. You want to maintain the most professional, confident exterior when speaking. What's more, in today's context, public speaking rarely exists without the presence of a camera. A teleprompter will feed you the precious lines you need so desperately to remember. It'll also conceal the eye of the camera lens from your view, which makes speaking into it much easier.