Each spring, we field frantic calls from colleges and universities asking how stage teleprompters are supposed to accommodate public speakers of all heights. Students, Chancellors, Provosts, Presidents, faculty and the coveted special guest speaker… peeps ranging in height from 4’8” to 7’2”!
Gone are the days of flipping through the 30+ missorted cue cards or intense speech memorizations. Let’s face it… It’s not in anyone’s best interest to have a CEO spend his or her time memorizing a 15-minute script. Poetic opening remarks deserve barely a glance down at the podium because eye contact is everything during that critical message. As one event coordinator for the UC system told us, “We want students to know we’re concerned about them. We don’t want them to have their last memory be the tops of the heads of their leaders.”
Cutting-edge technology dictates that presidential-style speech teleprompters should be used, but what happens when Dr. J approaches the podium after Dr. Ruth’s memorable speech? And… what happens when each university or college has multiple schools of graduation on different days? Robotics to the rescue!
No longer does anyone have to run onstage to adjust the height of the prompter for the next speaker. The operator sets the exact height for each performer or speaker in advance and then, as soon as one person is finished, uses the remote control to adjust the height to fit the next person. Our TeleStepper automated rise and fall teleprompting stand automatically positions the teleprompting glass at just the right eyeline, regardless of a person’s height. When no longer needed (or when Bucky Badger starts his wild Wisconsin stage dance), TeleSteppers disappear from sight. The same disappearing act also works wonders when a slew of photographers and proud parents are determined to photograph every graduate from every angle as they walk across that stage.
All 2,850 of them 😉
Thom Tanner