Chris Sosa is running for NY Democratic District 5 City Council. He has a vision to share and uses an on-screen teleprompter to stay on point.
Professionals have long used teleprompters to present persuasively while keeping eye contact with viewers. Free onscreen teleprompter apps now offer grassroots candidates and activists the same capabilities, but without the expense and bulky hardware.
Chris Sosa
Chris comes from a family of dreamers. He is in America because of his Costa Rican grandmother who had a dream to immigrate to America and pursued it without fear. He's here because his mother had a dream and chose to homeschool her children in a poorly-funded district. He's here because his father had a dream and pursued a college degree at night while working construction in the day.
His vision includes well-funded public schools for our kids, affordable and reliable public transportation, green spaces for our families, fair opportunities for housing, employment, access to food and recreation, and healthcare for all.
Chris on teleprompter
How the audience sees Chris
Watch Chris' campaign video here. Notice how he never loses eye contact with his audience while reading the scrolling script on his computer screen.
How to use an on-screen teleprompter
- Copy-and-paste the text of your speech into the teleprompter. This is part of Chris' message that was pasted into the teleprompter. Try the script yourself with this link.
"I’m Chris Sosa. I’m running to serve as your next city council member in District 5. 2020 changed all of our lives and threw our city into a series of crises following years of escalating hardship for many New York families and businesses. I’m running because I know that a better future is within our reach. My experience working in the New York State legislature has prepared me to lead as a new Council begins an historic rebuilding of New York City. With courage and compassion, our community can build a revitalized city worthy of our children. We can create better and more affordable housing, sustainable public safety and a recovery plan that will restore and revitalize our neighborhoods."
- Edit the script in the teleprompter to highlight key words and phrases to emphasize.
- Adjust the font size and scroll speed so that you can read it comfortably.
- Pause the scrolling to answer a question from the audience.
- Save your script for later use or to adapt for other talks.
Teleprompters for politics and activism
The BigStage Teleprompter is a DemLabs app designed for non-profits, campaigns and advocacy groups.
- The BigStage app is free and can be used immediately without creating an account.
- It's simple to use and has online help if needed.
- A built in timer lets you know how much time you have left for your talk.
- It can be used either on a laptop or on a phone when presenting without internet access. Details.
- The free mobile app can be downloaded from the Apple AppStore or Google Play.
- It works with different presentation apps such ZOOM, WebEx, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
- It supports scripts in different languages including Spanish and Chinese.
The premium version of the app ($5/month) offers:
- The option to save your script for use later as well being able to adapt a stump talk for different events.
- Sharing a script with volunteers and supporters so that they have talking points packaged in a free teleprompter for town halls and other events.
- The ability for several presenters to share the same script. This is handy for panel discussions, and fundraisers when several presenters have to coordinate their comments.
- The ability for an expert to assist with answers in the teleprompter, so you never have to look away from the audience. (Details)
- The option to alert other presenters when they need to speed up their presentation if they go over their allotted speaking time. (Details)