Talking Points

Version 1.0 · iOS & macOS

Quick Start

Talking Points is a real-time speech tracking app that listens as you speak and marks off your talking points automatically. Here's how to get going in under two minutes.

1. Create your first set

Tap the + button in the Library to create a new talking point set. Give it a name — your presentation title, podcast episode, sermon topic, whatever works.

2. Add your points

Type your talking points, one per tile. These should be the key ideas you want to make sure you cover — not a word-for-word script. Short, punchy phrases work best.

3. Tap the microphone

When you're ready to present, tap the microphone button. The app will start listening. Speak naturally — the AI will figure out when you've covered each point.

4. Watch it track

Keywords in your tiles highlight in green as you say them. When a tile is fully covered, it marks complete. At a glance, you'll always know what's left.

Creating Talking Points

A "set" (called a Conversation in the app) is a collection of tiles. Each tile represents one talking point, section header, note, or cue.

Writing effective talking points

The coverage engine works best with tiles that contain the core vocabulary of what you plan to say. You don't need complete sentences — keywords and phrases are often more effective.

• Good: "Founding fathers, new nation, conceived in Liberty"
• Also good: "Thank the audience, acknowledge sponsors, introduce yourself"
• Less effective: Long paragraphs with lots of filler words

Splitting tiles

Use --- on its own line, or a double blank line, to split a tile into two separate tiles while editing.

Tile Types

Not every card needs to be a tracked talking point. The app supports four tile types:

Talking Point (orange)

The default. These are tracked by the speech engine and highlighted as you speak.

Section Title (blue)

A visual header that divides your set into sections. Not tracked, just organizational. Displayed prominently to help you navigate.

Structure Note (gray)

Internal notes to yourself — transition reminders, stage directions, timing cues. Not tracked, not displayed during tracking mode by default.

Stage Cue (purple)

Action reminders: "Click to next slide," "Pause here," "Make eye contact." Not tracked, displayed during tracking as a visual reminder.

Starting a Session

Open a conversation from your Library and tap the microphone button in the control bar. The app will request microphone permission if it hasn't already.

Tracking modes

Linear mode focuses the app on the tile you're currently on and the next few tiles. It advances automatically as you complete tiles. Good for scripted presentations.

Windowed mode keeps multiple tiles active at once and lets you cover them in any order. Better for conversational talks where you might jump around.

Coverage Engine

The coverage engine is what makes Talking Points different from every other teleprompter app. It combines three signals:

Keyword matching (green highlights)

When you say a word that matches a keyword in your tile, it turns green. This is the primary signal — fast, precise, and reliable.

Semantic matching (yellow highlights)

Apple's NLEmbedding framework understands meaning. If you say "founding fathers" and your tile says "the men who built this country," the semantic engine gives you partial credit. Yellow highlights indicate semantic matches.

Coverage percentage

Each tile shows a progress bar. When a tile reaches the threshold (default: ~70% based on your sensitivity setting), it marks as covered and the next tile activates.

Coverage Sensitivity

Adjust in Settings → Coverage Sensitivity. Three presets:

• Strict: You need to hit most keywords precisely. Good for scripted, word-for-word content.
• Standard: The default. Balanced between precision and flexibility. Works well for most use cases.
• Lenient: More forgiving — good for conversational presentations, noisy environments, or speakers with strong accents.

For fine-grained control, tap "Advanced Tuning" to access 13 individual parameters including keyword weight, semantic weight, and threshold values.

Timer

The timer lives in the control bar. Tap it to configure. You can:

• Count up from zero
• Count down from a target time
• Set a warning color at a specific threshold
• Display in full-screen timer mode

Remote Control

Connect two devices on the same Wi-Fi network to use one as a remote control for the other. Useful for:

• Confidence monitor (phone in hand, iPad on podium)
• Producer control (someone else advances tiles from across the room)
• Mirror mode (display tiles on a second screen)

To connect: tap the remote icon on the host device, then open the app on the second device. It will discover the session automatically via Bluetooth/local network.

Video Recording

Available in Pro. Record your presentation with your talking points overlaid on the camera feed.

Two modes: Fullscreen records camera with tiles overlaid as a heads-up display, and Picture-in-Picture shows a smaller camera feed alongside the tile list. Drag the PiP window to reposition it.

Enable in Settings → Experimental Features → Video Recording.

Voice Filter

Voice Filter keeps background conversations and audience noise from interfering with your coverage tracking. Choose from four tiers that match your environment — studio, sanctuary, or open room.

• Off: No filtering — all detected speech advances coverage.
• Proximity Gate: Volume-based filtering — only loud, close speech counts. Good for noisy rooms where you're the loudest voice.
• Standard: Voice pitch analysis — matches your vocal range. Works well in most presentation environments without enrollment.
• AI Imprint: Voice signature — enroll your voice once, then only your voice advances the session. Most accurate for shared spaces or multi-speaker environments.

Configure in Settings → Voice Filter.

Appearance

Talking Points ships with three themes:

• TP Standard: The branded dark theme — warm charcoals with orange accents. Recommended.
• Slate: Cool blue-grey dark theme.
• Black: High contrast pure dark theme. Good for OLED screens.

Each theme supports light and dark mode independently. Set in Settings → Appearance.

Audio Input

By default, the app uses your device's built-in microphone. If you have a lavalier mic, wireless mic receiver, or external audio interface connected, you can select it in Settings → Audio Input.

The selected input is saved and restored each time you start a tracking session.

Import & Export

Talking Points uses the .tpt file format — a structured plain text format that preserves all tile types, settings, and metadata. You can share .tpt files with other Talking Points users via AirDrop, Files, or email.

To export: open a conversation → tap the share icon → choose "Export as .tpt" or "Export as Text."

To import: tap a .tpt file from Files, Mail, or AirDrop, and it will open in Talking Points automatically.

Keyboard Shortcuts (Mac & iPad)

Shortcut	Action
Space	Start / Stop tracking
⌘ N	New talking point set
⌘ ,	Open preferences (Mac)
↑ ↓	Navigate tiles
⌘ Z	Undo delete
Esc	Close sheet / dismiss

Diagnostics

If you encounter a bug or unexpected behavior, shake your device to open the diagnostic report dialog. This sends basic device information and app state logs to our team — no voice data or content is included.

Diagnostic reports are the fastest way to get help, because they include the exact context our team needs to reproduce and fix the issue.