I want to tell you a story about my client Cory Lauer and how I helped him make better videos by weaning him off the teleprompter so he could be his true self on camera.

Cory wasn't new to video. He understood why showing up consistently mattered. Like a lot of people trying to sound professional, he was using a teleprompter.

His biggest obstacle was....

But something wasn't working. His videos felt stiff. They were technically fine, but they didn't reflect who he really was. The personality, confidence, and ease I saw when he spoke off-camera weren't coming through on screen.

What stood out to me immediately was that Cory actually had a strong on-camera presence. He made good eye contact and communicated clearly. He just hadn't learned to trust himself yet.

My solution to the obstacle was...

So I told him, "Cory, I think we can ditch the teleprompter. I really think you can do this."

That suggestion wasn't easy for him to hear. The teleprompter felt safe. It gave him structure and control. But it was also getting in the way of his delivery.

Instead of scrapping everything, we made a simple adjustment. I asked Cory to take the same Vyral scripts he'd been using and approach them differently. Read through the script. Rewrite it in his own words if that helped. Rehearse it enough to understand the flow, not to memorize it line by line.

Most importantly, we weren't going to film the video all at once.

When we got on our first shoot, we slowed everything down. We started with just the introduction. Cory glanced at his notes, looked back up at the camera, and delivered it. Then we paused. No pressure. No need to push through mistakes.

Next, we moved into the main points. I told him to review the idea, look back at the camera, and talk it through. "You know this," I said. "You don't need to read it."

He delivered the first point. Then the second. Then the third. Each segment was filmed one piece at a time, with room to reset between takes.

Something shifted almost immediately. Instead of worrying about what came next, Cory stayed present. He wasn't focused on exact wording anymore. He was focused on the message, and that made all the difference.

The outcome for my client was...

When he got the finished video back, his reaction said everything. The video felt natural, confident, and genuine. It finally sounded like him.

From that point on, each shoot became easier. His confidence grew. His delivery improved. The camera stopped feeling like something he had to fight against.

Today, his videos look better than ever, not because they're perfect, but because they're real.

Here's one of his latest videos: 

If you're using a teleprompter and feeling frustrated, this is worth thinking about. You don't need to eliminate structure or wing it. You just need familiarity with your topic and a little extra preparation.

Break your video into sections. Know your talking points. Give yourself permission to pause and reset between takes. Videos don't have to be recorded in one clean take. That's what editing is for.

If you know your topic and trust yourself a bit more, you'll be surprised by how much better your videos feel when you stop reading and start speaking.

What my client says about working with me...

"Bridget encourages me to pick a topic I like and make it my own. She taught me how to break the script into sections so we can do one at a time. Sometimes I retake a section several times, but the difference is night and day from my first videos."

What to do next...

If you resonate with this story and want to wean yourself off the teleprompter so you can be more authentic, more yourself, and communicate with confidence on camera, I'm here to help you. I can guide you through the process and make it easier.

If you're already working with us, mention this story on your next strategy call. Let's talk about creating a plan to wean you off the teleprompter and improve your communication skills, just like we did with Cory.

If you're not a client yet but you're thinking about it, I'd like to invite you to book a call with us. We'll walk you through how we help professionals like you create videos that feel natural, get watched, and ultimately generate new business from your database. We'd be happy to answer any questions and see if this approach is the right fit for you.