There's little margin for error in a Zoom interview and performance anxiety just makes it worse.
Fortunately there are ways to stay on message and get real time help from advisors - all without looking away from your laptop camera.
Use an on-screen teleprompter pre-loaded with your talking points that the interviewer does not see. Help with questions and other tips are provided right in your teleprompter by your assistant or media expert. So you don't miss a beat and never have to look away from the camera. Free apps like the BigStage Teleprompter let even grassroots activists perform like the pros in a press interview.
Lights, camera, action
In this example, we're simulating an interview about the key features in the For The People Act, with material from Common Cause. The notes are pasted into the teleprompter and key points highlighted. Pressing the SCROLL button makes the script scroll. It can be paused to answer questions from the interviewer.
Save and share your script with an assistant or a PR expert. They may be in remote locations and give you tips during the interview which appear in your teleprompter screen. No more frantic text messages and furtive glances at your phone during an interview!
Realtime, invisible help
The BigStage Teleprompter is designed for multiple users to collaborate and present together. They all see the same script, can edit in in real time and send messages to each other during an interview or presentation. This is how it works:
Prepare your script and save it. In this simulation we used this script with material from Common Cause.
Protecting and expanding voting rights and election security:
- Automatic voter registration
- Online voter registration
- Same day voter registration
- Make election day a federal holiday
- Voting rights restoration to people with prior felony convictions
- Expand early voting and simplify absentee voting
- Prohibit voter purges that kick eligible voters off the registration rolls
- Enhance election security with increase support for a paper-based voting system and more oversight over election vendors
- End partisan gerrymandering by established independent redistricting commissions
- Prohibit providing false information about the elections process that discourage voting and other deceptive practices
Edit your script to highlight key points, phrases to emphasize and where to pause for impact while presenting. Adjust the font size and the speed at which the script to your speaking style. Press Pause to answer questions and then resume the scrolling script. Save your script to a link like https://bigstageteleprompter.online/content/e1gm17hjbk which is shared with team members who will be helping during the presentation. They launch their own BigStage Teleprompter app and can communicate with you as you present. Your team members can send you realtime messages, update the script and remind you if you are running short on time. This allows you to focus on your message without ever having to look away from the camera.
Expert tips
Learn about other tips for better media interviews is this blog by Ken Scudder. He is a writer and communications consultant specializing in message development, communication training, writing and editing, and crisis communication. He worked on Capitol Hill as a Communications Director, first with Congressman Mike Honda of California, then Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida, and as the Democratic Communications Director for the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee.