How to read notes during a video call without looking like you are
By Zakaria Reziki · · 7 min read
The trick to reading notes on a video call is not reading faster. It's moving the notes. Put them in a narrow strip directly under your camera, cut them down to a few big keywords, and glance at them in the natural pauses between sentences. Your eyes stay close to the lens, and the people on the call see someone thinking, not someone reading.
Where to put your notes on screen
Put them in the top-centre of your screen, as close under the camera as you can get. That strip is the only part of a laptop screen where looking at text still reads as looking at the person.
The reason is geometry. On a MacBook, the middle of the screen sits roughly 10 cm below the camera, which is about 10° of downward gaze at a normal sitting distance. Research on perceived eye contact puts the sweet spot at about 2° below the lens, which on a laptop is a strip only around 2 cm tall. We cover the numbers in detail in where to look on a video call.
Two rules follow from that:
- Up, not down. Every line you add below the first pushes your eyes lower. Keep the notes short and wide rather than tall.
- Centre, not side. People notice sideways glances far more than slight downward ones. A notes window off to the right, or on a second monitor, is more obvious than one a little low.
How to format notes you can read at a glance
Notes for a call are not a document. You get about half a second to read them, so every point has to survive a glance.
- Keywords, not sentences. Write the trigger, not the text. “Q3 churn: 4.1% → 3.2%, onboarding fix” beats a full paragraph.
- Number the points. A number tells you where you are after an interruption. “I have three things” also helps your listeners.
- One idea per line. If a line needs a comma and an “and”, split it.
- Big text. Go much larger than you think. If you have to lean in, it's too small.
- Write numbers and names in full. These are the things you actually forget. Opinions and stories you can say from memory.
A worked example for a five-minute project update:
That's under 30 words for five minutes of talking. The detail lives in your head; the notes just keep the order and the numbers.
Ways to keep notes by the camera on a Mac
There are three realistic setups. None is perfect, so pick based on how often you need notes and how much you change them.
| Option | Good | Not so good |
|---|---|---|
| A small window dragged under the camera (Stickies, a text file, a browser tab) | Free, already on your Mac, easy to edit | Other windows cover it; the call window often sits on top; you scroll by hand |
| Paper taped at the top of the lid | Always visible, nothing on screen to share by mistake | Small, can't be edited mid-call, usually ends up beside the camera, not under it, and can block the lens if you're careless |
| A teleprompter app that pins notes under the camera | Stays in place above other windows, large text, steps through points | One more app to set up |
The free window method
Open a Stickies note or a plain text file, make the font large, shrink the window to a wide, short strip and drag it right under the camera. Stickies can be set to float above other windows from its Window menu, which stops the call window from covering it. Then resize or move the call window so the faces sit just below your notes. That keeps both things you look at near the top of the screen.
The paper method
If you use paper, cut a narrow strip, write large, and tape it to the top of the lid right beside the camera. Keep it off the lens and away from the mic. Because it sits to the side, glance at it only between sentences.
Using Cuey's Notes mode
Cuey is a Mac teleprompter that lives in the menu bar, and its Notes mode is built for exactly this. Instead of scrolling a script, you step forward and back through your points by hand, one at a time. By default the prompt sits under the camera, and you can also put it at the notch, to either side of the camera, or float it anywhere. You set the text size and window opacity, and pick a size from Compact up to a full-width top bar.
Paste your points with ⇧⌘V, start with ⇧⌘P, and hide it with ⌥⌘T (or the Cuey menu bar icon) when you don't need it. It works the same whichever call app you're in, whether that's Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams, because it's a separate app rather than a plug-in.
How to glance at notes naturally
The placement does most of the work. The rest is timing.
- Glance, then speak. Read the keyword in the pause before a point, look up, then say it. Reading while you talk is what makes people sound like they're reading.
- Use pauses you'd take anyway. End of a sentence, after a question, while someone reacts. A one-second pause sounds like thinking.
- Don't hide it. Darting eyes look worse than an open glance. “Let me check my notes” is a perfectly normal sentence in a meeting.
- Look at faces while listening. When someone else speaks, look at them on screen. Nobody expects eye contact with the lens while you listen.
- Rehearse once on camera. Record 30 seconds in Photo Booth using your notes and play it back. You'll see immediately whether your eyes drop or drift sideways.
Is it OK to use notes on a video call?
Yes, for most calls. Using talking points in a status update, a client call or a pitch is the same as bringing a notepad into a meeting room. Nobody expects you to memorise your quarterly numbers.
Two limits are worth keeping:
- Don't pretend it's unscripted. If someone asks whether you're reading, say yes. Being caught reading is minor. Being caught denying it isn't.
- Follow the rules of the room. Some settings, like certain interviews and assessments, set their own rules on aids. We cover that case in can you use notes in a video interview.
If your notes are turning into a full script, that's a sign you're presenting rather than meeting. For that, see how to present on a video call, or look at how Cuey works for meetings.
Summary
- Notes go in a narrow strip directly under the camera, not mid-screen or on a second display.
- Write numbered keywords in large text, with names and numbers in full.
- On a Mac, a floating Stickies note, a strip of paper, or a teleprompter's notes mode all work. Each trades convenience for setup.
- Glance in pauses, then look up and speak. Be open about using notes.