Use a teleprompter with Zoom without sharing your notes.

The important check happens on the other side of the call: can the audience see your script? Put the reader and your slides in separate windows, choose what Zoom shares, and verify that view before the real meeting.

Give the script its own window

Open Zoom and the teleprompter side by side. If your slides are in a browser, move the reader into a separate browser window, not just another tab beside the slides. Switching tabs inside a shared browser window can expose the notes you intended to keep private.

Place the reader close to the webcam. Increase the text size until you can sit normally, then adjust the margins to shorten long lines. Keep enough of Zoom visible to notice a raised hand or a message. A readable script that hides the meeting controls is a poor trade.

A simple geometry example explains why placement matters. With your eyes 60 cm from the screen, a line 5 cm below a lens at eye level sits about 4.8° below your camera sightline. At 15 cm below the lens, that angle is about 14°. Those are calculated angles, not eye-contact targets. Move the line closer to the lens and compare a recorded sample before shrinking the text.

Choose the thing the audience should see

Zoom supports sharing a full screen, an application window or a portion of the screen, with available options depending on the client and account settings. A selected slide window is usually the simplest starting point for keeping a separate reader private.

Zoom’s desktop app also offers a view of the content being shared. Use it, or check from a second participant device with its microphone and speaker muted to avoid feedback. Verify what is actually being sent rather than relying on how your own desktop looks.

Run a small audience-view check

1. Start a practice meeting with the same screen arrangement you will use later. Share the slide window you selected.
2. Advance a slide and look at the participant view. Confirm that only the intended content is visible.
3. Move the teleprompter, open its settings and switch back to Zoom. Check that none of those actions reveals the script.
4. Stop sharing before changing the layout. If you start a different share, inspect that new audience view too.

The free reader cannot hide itself from a screen share or float permanently above Zoom. Those boundaries come from your window arrangement and sharing choice.

Space belongs to the window you are using

If Zoom has keyboard focus, Space will not pause this browser reader. Use its visible Play/Pause button when switching between applications. When the reader has focus outside text entry, Space pauses or resumes. When you click paused script text to edit it, Space types a space.

Pause before inviting a question so the notes do not continue scrolling while you listen. Resume from the next cue, rather than restarting the whole script. If a line needs changing, edit it while paused and use Play to continue.

Let Zoom handle the meeting camera

Leave the browser’s Record video feature off for this setup. Keep the camera and microphone in Zoom so you are not trying to manage two capture workflows during a live call. The browser recorder does not capture your remote participants.

For a timed talk, prepare the notes with the presentation rehearsal guide. If the call is an interview, the podcast segment guide shows where a full script helps and where a question prompt is enough.