We're planning our first post-COVID user conference with a host of speakers. I've seen several monitors facing presenters at other live events. What are they, and what are their benefits?

Whether you're dealing with a novice speaker or a seasoned presenter, communicating with a live audience often elicits sweaty palms and more butterflies than a monarch migration. But one of the best ways to calm the jitters is to equip presenters with various monitors. Here's a rundown of three of the most common monitor-based speaker tools.
Teleprompters — Regularly used for TV newscasts, teleprompters relay a speaker's written script word for word, allowing the announcer to provide precise information in a timely manner. However, reading from a teleprompter makes audience eye contact and even the speaker's physical movement across the stage extremely limited. Plus, positioning the monitor is tricky, as you want it at eye level so the presenter can see the text without constantly looking up, down, left, or right, yet you don't want a monitor blocking audience members' views of the speaker. So positioning, not to mention text pacing, is key.
Confidence Monitors — A confidence monitor, which is sometimes called a down-stage monitor, is usually a small presenter-facing device positioned near the speaker's feet. To foster attendee engagement, effective presenters try to maintain eye contact with the audience as much as possible. So they don't want to have to turn their backs to listeners in order to view presentation content on a large audience-facing screen. A confidence monitor, then, mirrors the large-screen content, allowing the presenter to reference what's on-screen without ever having to turn away from the audience.
Note Monitors — A third type of monitor, which doesn't seem to have an official name, often displays notes or reminders for the presenter. While the confidence monitor mirrors the larger screen, this monitor (often positioned right next to it) might prompt the speaker to interject a specific joke from memory, pose a question to the audience, or further illustrate a key point referenced in the large-screen content.

All three monitor types can help presenters stay on track in terms of content and timing. The key to their effective use is to match each device's deliverables to the presenter's topic, content, and skill level.