Eyes darting while you read notes kills your credibility on camera A five minute AI check fixes the exact lines in your script that make your eyes scan, before the camera ever rolls
| Max line length | 8 to 10 words |
|---|---|
| Rubric checks | 4: line length, lead fact, pause mark, one idea per line |
| Optimal gaze angle | About 2 degrees below the camera lens, per Journal of Vision, 2025 |
| Off camera gaze effect | Lower interview evaluation scores, per Scientific Reports, 2024 |
1. Paste your talking points into AI
Drop in your answer, your deck notes, or your lecture beats exactly as you wrote them, no editing first. For example, paste the full paragraph you’d use to answer ‘why are you leaving your job’.
2. Hand it the eye-contact rubric
Tell it to check four things: no line longer than 8 to 10 words, the key fact in the first 3 to 4 words, a pause mark near the middle of long sentences, and one idea per line, not a wall of text.
3. Let it rewrite the risky lines
Ask it to flag every line that breaks a rule and rewrite only those into short, spoken style lines. Keep the lines that already pass as they are.
4. Shrink the result into a camera side strip
Resize the final script into a narrow column, not a full screen window, and place it directly under or beside your webcam lens, never across the middle of the screen.
5. Rehearse while watching your own eyes
Turn on your camera preview and read the new script once. Watch your own eyes in the small preview window and check they stay roughly still instead of sweeping left to right.
A worked example
A candidate is prepping an answer to ‘why are you leaving your current job’ for an online interview
Before
I’ve been in my current role for about three years and while I’ve learned a lot and had some great wins, I feel like I’ve hit a ceiling in terms of what I can grow into here, and I’m looking for a role with more ownership and a bigger scope to make an impact, which is why I started exploring other opportunities.
After
Three years here. Learned a lot, some good wins.
Hit a ceiling on growth though.
Want more ownership, bigger scope.
That’s why I started looking.
Three ways to bend it
For a client architecture walkthrough
An IT consultant runs the talking points for each slide through the same rubric before the call, then parks the narrow strip beside the screen share toolbar instead of staring at a browser tab while presenting.
For a live lecture with no teleprompter
A teacher splits lecture notes into short teaching beats, runs each beat through the rubric, and pins the strip just under the camera on a second monitor so they look at students, not notes.
For a sales or demo call
Run your opening pitch and objection answers through the same four rules, then keep the shrunk strip taped below the lens so you’re reading nothing wider than a bookmark.
When it goes wrong
The short lines sound robotic when I actually say them out loud
Ask AI to rewrite them again as ‘the way you’d say this out loud to a friend’, then read it aloud twice before judging. The stiffness is usually the first draft, not the method.
I can’t pin a narrow note window near my webcam
Resize any sticky note or notes app into a thin strip and drag it just under the camera, or print the final lines in large font and tape the strip directly below the lens.
When not to use this
This only works when you have planned talking points, like an opening answer, a pitch, or lecture beats. If the conversation is free flowing and you’re thinking on the spot, there is no script to run through the rubric, and forcing short rehearsed lines into live back and forth will make you sound stiff instead of natural.
What you can now do
You stop guessing which lines will make your eyes drift and walk in with a script that’s already built for the camera, not the page.
Part of Making Life Easier With AI, a weekly walk-through of one small thing AI can take off your plate.
Take this further
Act as a blunt hiring manager who has read ten thousand resumes, not a career coach. I will paste my full resume and the job description I want. Rewrite the whole resume for that role, section by section, in this order: summary, experience, skills, education. Rules: every experience line leads with impact, not duty. Use bracketed placeholders like [8 percent] for any number I did not give you, and list at the end every placeholder I need to replace with a real figure. Keep it to one page of text. Plain formatting only, no tables or columns, so screening software can parse it. After the rewrite, tell me the three weakest claims that need evidence before I send this anywhere. My resume: [paste resume]. The role: [paste job description].
Takeaways
- Run one real talking point, like an answer to a tough interview question, through the four line rubric before your next video call.
- Resize your notes app or script into a narrow column and position it directly under or beside your webcam lens, not across the middle of the screen.
- Turn on your camera preview and read the rewritten script once, watching your own eyes to confirm they stay roughly still.
- If a rewritten line sounds robotic out loud, ask AI to redo it in the way you would say it to a friend before you finalize it.
- Reserve this method for planned segments only, such as openings, pitches, or lecture beats, not for live unscripted back and forth.
Questions people actually ask
Why do my eyes keep darting on video calls?
Your eyes jump because you are scanning full sentences instead of reading short, pre-chunked phrases. Long lines force wide left to right sweeps that are visible to anyone watching your face. Shortening each line to 8 to 10 words with the key point near the start cuts that lateral travel dramatically, so your gaze looks closer to steady camera contact.
How do I stop looking like I am reading during an interview?
Reading looks obvious when a script is written like an essay instead of spoken language. Rewrite the risky lines into short, conversational phrases with one idea per line, then rehearse out loud at least twice. The first read often sounds stiff, so a second pass usually sounds more natural once you are familiar with the wording.
Where should I put my notes so I do not look away from the camera?
Shrink your script into a narrow column, not a full width window, and place it directly above, below, or beside your webcam lens rather than across the middle of the screen. The closer the text sits to the lens, the smaller the angle your eyes travel, keeping your gaze close to camera contact.
Does looking away from the camera really affect how I am evaluated?
Yes. Research on simulated video interviews found that candidates who looked at their screen instead of the camera received lower ratings on traits like hireability and social presence than candidates who held camera gaze, even with similar answers. Where your eyes point measurably changes how you come across to an evaluator.
Should I use this method for a free flowing conversation?
No. This approach only works when you have planned talking points, like an opening answer, a pitch, or lecture beats written out ahead of time. In unscripted back and forth there is no script to check against the rubric, and forcing short rehearsed lines into live conversation tends to sound stiff instead of natural.
Sources
- Off-camera gaze decreases evaluation scores in a simulated online job interviewScientific Reports (Nature Portfolio)
- Don’t look at the camera: Achieving perceived eye contact in remote video communicationJournal of Vision (ARVO)
- How to Read a Teleprompter Naturally (Without Sounding Robotic)Teleprompter.com
What happens next
Expect more lightweight AI tools to narrow in on script pacing and camera framing specifically, rather than general writing help, as more interviews and pitches move onto video calls. Watch whether video call platforms start building gaze or eye contact feedback directly into their software, which would reduce the need for a separate rehearsal step like this one.
