Prepare glanceable notes
Condense each STAR story to a 3–4 word trigger, list your questions, and add key numbers. Bullets you can absorb in one second — not paragraphs to read.
Interviews & meetings
How to keep interview notes visible during a video interview
Preparing notes for an interview is smart; losing your train of thought while hunting for them is not. Whether you are the candidate with STAR stories and questions to ask, or the interviewer with a rundown to follow, the goal is the same: notes in view, eyes on the person.
Free on the Mac App Store · macOS 14+
Can you have notes open during a video interview?
Yes — and the other side cannot see them. Video calls transmit your camera and anything you explicitly share, not your desktop. A transparent, always-on-top notes window like Lucid Notes floats over Zoom, Meet, or Teams on your side only. What gives people away is never the software; it is eyes visibly dropping to a second monitor or the long silence of searching a document. Float short notes right under your webcam and a glance stays a glance.
The one scenario that needs care is a screen-share round — common in technical interviews. On a full-screen share an ordinary notes window becomes visible to everyone. Share a single window instead, or keep your prompts in Lucid Notes’ notch teleprompter mode, which macOS excludes from screen capture even when you share the entire screen.
Set up your interview notes
Float them at the camera
Position the transparent window directly under your webcam and tune the opacity so the interviewer stays visible through your notes.
Plan for the screen-share round
If you might share your screen, decide now: share the single window (IDE, browser) rather than the screen, or move prompts to the notch teleprompter.
Rehearse one answer
Run a practice answer on a test call or QuickTime recording. Check your eyeline and confirm the notes are not in the shared content.
What the other side can and cannot see
The interviewer receives your camera feed, your audio, and any content you share — nothing else. Notes floating on your screen are technically invisible to them. What is visible is behavior: a gaze that keeps dropping to the same off-camera spot, or answers delivered in the flat cadence of reading. That is why placement near the lens and trigger-word notes beat a full script for interviews. Notes should rescue you when you blank, not run the conversation.
Coding interviews and screen shares
Technical rounds flip the privacy model: now part of your screen is public. If the interviewer asks you to share your whole screen, an ordinary sticky note or document with prepared prompts will be on display — an awkward moment at best. Two clean outs: share only the window they need (the editor, the whiteboard tab), or keep your checklist — complexity reminders, question prompts, closing points — in the notch teleprompter, which stays out of on-device screen capture even on a full-screen share.
For interviewers and podcast hosts
The same setup solves the other chair. A question rundown floating near the camera lets you actually listen to answers instead of managing a document, keeps follow-ups from getting lost, and — on recorded podcasts — keeps your eyeline on the guest instead of a side screen. With the teleprompter’s auto-scroll you can even run a timed intro from a script and then drop back to bullets for the conversation.
Screen-capture exclusion applies to notch teleprompter mode only, and to on-device capture: screen shares, screen recordings, and screenshots. The regular floating notes window is an ordinary window — on a full-screen share it will be visible, so share a single window instead. Use notes as preparation support; interviews go better when you glance, not read.
Free on the Mac App Store
Walk in prepared. Look like you winged it.
Download Lucid Notes free — five notes is a full interview prep kit.
Frequently asked questions
Can the interviewer tell I have notes?
Not from the software — your notes are never transmitted unless you share the screen they are on. They can only infer it from your eyes or delivery, which is why notes belong near the webcam and should be short triggers rather than sentences you read.
What if the interview includes sharing my whole screen?
An ordinary notes window would then be visible. Either share just the relevant window (most interviewers accept this), or keep prompts in Lucid Notes’ notch teleprompter, which macOS excludes from screen capture even on full-screen shares.
Is it okay to use notes in a job interview?
For most interviews, yes — remote interviewers largely expect candidates to have prepared material, and interviewers themselves work from rundowns. Use notes to stay structured and accurate; a conversation read word-for-word from a script will underperform regardless of tooling.
Does the free version cover interview prep?
Comfortably. The free tier includes the transparent always-on-top window and up to 5 notes — enough for a story sheet, a questions list, and a company fact note. macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.