Thomas in Scotland just received his Little Prompter. He sent us the below email. (Those Scots are pretty cool for taking time to send us feedback.) Much thanks, Thomas! Glad it’s working well for you!
Little Tips Blog
Thanks for the Great Reviews This Week!
Folks, I’m a teacher. I developed the Little Prompter to help other faculty . . . and it’s been an amazing journey. This week I received three unsolicited reviews. THANK YOU to our nearly 2,000 customers! (And a special thanks to those who zip me these little notes. : )
A Post from the Prof
An instructor at the University of South Dakota (go ‘yotes!) recently shared this Facebook post about her Little Prompter. Here’s what she wrote:
“… finally, my FAVORITE assistant-trick is my Little Prompter. It is a SUPER easy to use teleprompter that adds a level of polish to my postings of which I am quite proud. Bonus-it was designed by Aberdeen native Dann Hurlbert. It has earned every penny of the its cost in giving me confidence in what I create for my classroom.”
Thanks, Kim! Keep up the fantastic work at the U!
–dann
From the Pastor…
I received this short email from Pastor Joe in New York who recently became a Little Prompter customer. He realized that his sermons would now all be delivered online. He ordered a Little Prompter right away.
Now is the Perfect Time … to Excel Online
Folks, I’m an educator. I teach professionals how to easily produce their own videos, and quickly delivering flawless video content has never been more important. I developed the Little Prompter to help teachers, pastors, and business professionals quickly turn their well-crafted copy into compelling video content—without needing a studio or producer. You can, too, from wherever you are.
At www.littleprompter.com you can learn more about this amazing little tool and learn some simple tips that can help you reach and grow your own online audiences.
Little Prompter: Simple Tool. Sensational Delivery.
— dann hurlbert
Teaching Remotely. Connecting Personally.
We’re seeing more and more institutional responses to the most recent Coronavirus, Covid-19. Thankfully, Covid 19 doesn’t seem as serious as once thought, but some real people are suffering with it, so our thoughts are prayers go out to anyone impacted.
Some of us impacted indirectly are faculty who now have to quickly flip our face-to-face courses to an online format.
Institutionally, this means
- Identifying the handful of baseline tools everyone should be using; this benefits both IT support staff and students who aren’t suddenly stuck navigating a vast number of tools or apps from multiple instructors. At the least, that baseline should include streamlining course websites/LMS’ (ranging from Google Classroom to Moodle to Canvas) and selecting just 1-2 video conferencing tools (like Google Meet or Zoom).
- It also means verifying that both faculty and students can access and participate in both synchronous and asynchronous coursework. That’s no small task.
Once those tools are identified, faculty have two key considerations:
- You’ll likely need to adjust your assignments to accommodate online submission and assessment while also building in more and more structured feedback. (When shifting to online, we lose much of the natural, personal, feedback we—often subconsciously—provided during our traditional classrooms. We also can’t “read the room” as we once did. As a result, “online” requires more quick polls, discussions, or short quizzes to check for understanding incrementally and often.)
- One of the biggest hurdles faculty face when making the jump from a face-to-face course to online is building and maintaining relationships and that sense of community. This relationship building needs to occur between faculty and student . . . and between student and student. Here’s a link to an excellent 2017 post from Inside Higher Ed about how to do just that: https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/07/26/ideas-building-online-community
After faculty get comfortable with the tools, you just need get comfortable looking into camera, smiling, and delivering you content as naturally and personably as possible. Fake it until it becomes natural! Some of the content can be synchronous and a little rough around the edges. Some of that content, however, should be polished and cleanly delivered as a stand-alone video. Here’s where I recommend the Little Prompter. It’s a compact personal teleprompter that, with your existing camera, your smartphone, a teleprompter app, and a little practice, can help you deliver flawless instruction directly into camera. So, no matter what video recording or streaming tool you use, don’t forget that the Little Prompter is an inexpensive device that helps you create video flawlessly. By writing a script, importing it into a teleprompter app on your smartphone, setting that smartphone on your teleprompter tray, and pressing record . . . you can easily and flawlessly record your content while looking directly into the camera. More information is available at http://www.littleprompter.com.
Next up, keep yourself healthy by washing your hands, eating and sleeping well, and trying not to touch your face . . . and don’t forget that today is also an opportunity to improve your on-camera delivery when working remotely. The Little Prompter is one of those simple tools that can help you have a flawless delivery—when you’re suddenly in front of a camera, rather than a class.
What Video Professionals Say About the Little Prompter…on Amazon.
Video Professionals are always on the hunt for gear that improves their work and simplifies their workflow. Here are a few thoughts from Production Company Owners, Videographers, and Media Producers who graciously took time to write Amazon reviews about my Little Prompter. They say things like the Little Prompter “works perfectly” and “is easy to use” and “is great for more complex messages” and “My subjects love that they don’t have to memorize that stuff anymore!” The Little Prompter remains one of the least expensive and most versatile teleprompter on the market and video professionals around the world are learning why.
Amazon Reviews from Educational Professionals
If you’ve wondered about the Little Prompter, just check out the thoughts from Faculty, Video Specialists, Media Engineers, and Instructional Designers who graciously took time to write these Amazon reviews. They use words like “the Little Prompter has been a life saver” and “using a teleprompter will take your videos to the next level” and “we confidently give it 5 stars!” The Little Prompter remains the most versatile teleprompter on the market, and teachers, professors, instructional designers, and other educational professionals around the world are learning why. Dann Hurlbert is both a teacher and a video professional at an impressive midwestern college, and his Little Prompter is helping educational professionals easily create flawless videos. Learn more and place your order at littleprompter.com.
Interview with Susan from How to Be Good on TV
I had a fun opportunity to talk with Susan Siravo of How to Be Good on TV. She’s a Little Prompter user, and conducts a great interview. Check out the video, below, and follow her YouTube channel for more great tips about how to be good on TV! (You can also order a Little Prompter at http://www.littleprompter.com)
Making Video Work Well: Talk is Cheap (and Less Effective)

Here’s the second in my three video series on Carleton’s Academic Technology Blog. It focuses on how and why you should be intentional about both the audio and visuals in your instructional videos. If you create videos to teach–or help others create videos–you check out the link, below!
Making Video Work Well, Part 1

I just posted the first video (of a three part series) on our Carleton Academic Technology Blog. If you create videos to teach–or help others create videos–you may want to check out the link, below. The next blogs will appear January 14, and January 21st!
Prompted for Outreach
This November, thanks to the generosity of a faith-filled customer, Little Prompter was able to donate 14 Little Prompters to churches and charities throughout the US to continue to spread their faith with flawless video. Congratulations to the following organizations who will receive a Little Prompter as they continue to bless our their communities and our nation with their ministry:
- Diocese of Little Rock, Little Rock, AR
- 30 For Freedom, Burnsville, MN
- Rocky Mountain Chapel, Cripple Creek, CO
- Sacred Heart Church, Aberdeen, SD
- Global Media Outreach, Plano, TX
- St. Thomas Episcopal Church, Huntsville, AL
- Lifeway Church, Dacula, GA
- Mac Ministries, Eagan, MN
- Normandale Chi Alpha & Minnesota Young Adult, Bloomington, MN
- Mount Marty College Campus Ministries, Yankton, SD
- Willmar Assembly of God, Willmar, MN
- Living Hope Church, Little Falls, MN
- ZOE Church, Burnsville, MN
- Arts & Entertainment Ministries, Los Angeles, CA
Thank you to all who submitted to the contest! May you God continue to bless you and those you serve through your ministries. (He does.)
dann
Video Tips from NAB 2019 (and looking forward to it again in 2020!)
Summer has wrapped. Cooler temps are on us, and I’m already looking hopefully forward to another insightful (and warm) National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas in April, 2020! Check-out my short and keen Instructional Video Tips from NAB video on Carleton’s Academic Technology Blog!
Win a Little Prompter!

For a limited time only, Christian churches and charities have an opportunity to win a Little Prompter! Visit https://dannhurlbert.com/for-churches-and-charities/winlittleprompter to sign up for your chance! (And share this post with others you think might be blessed by a FREE Little Prompter!)
Text and the Heart–a video about text placement

Your text placement can help or hinder your students learning by impacting cognitive load–which either increases or decreases learning capacity & video effectiveness. It also lets you know where you should place text in your videos and other instructional aids. The video features Dann as he highlighting portions of Ruth Covlin Clark and Richard E Mayer’s text “e-Learning and the Science of Instruction.”