3. What are Cue Cards???
The name Cue Cards comes from a large card held out
of the audiences sight that has words in large letters to
help a speaker or actor remember their lines in television
broadcasting.
We use these in a similar way when we do our speeches.
Although our cards are A LOT smaller!
Your cards should be about the size of a card in your wallet.
4. Cue Cards are not...
Do not write your whole speech on your cards
Cue cards are to give you ‘cues’ (help if you can’t
remember) for your speech
5. How to Make Cue Cards
Have 1 main heading or idea per card
Clearly write using large font (so you can easily read
them)
Have plenty of white space around each word or
phrase to help them stand out
Use bullet points or numbers to put your ideas in
order
6. Good Cue Cards are...
Written on only 1 side of the card
Are clearly numbered so you know the order
your cards come in
Imagine if you drop them and they get
messed up!
Can be colour-coded to show main ideas
7. How to prepare your Speech
Before starting your cue cards make sure you've got the flow of the speech how you
want it.
Using your speech outline go through from the beginning checking the sequence
(order) to make sure your information makes sense.
Do try it out loud and time it. You may need to edit if it's too long and it's a lot
easier to do before you write your cue cards
Once you have the length right(3 mins), if possible get other people in the class to
listen to you. Have them give you feedback on the information, the structure and
delivery, paying particular attention to the introduction and the conclusion. Once
you're happy, you're ready to prepare it for cue cards.
8. Writing up your cue cards
Each part of your speech from its introduction to conclusion should be able to be reduced to a key word or
phrase that will act as a prompt triggering your memory for what it was you wanted to say.
Do not be tempted to write the whole of your speech out. This defeats your purpose. You'll finish with
cramped notes that as well as being difficult to read stops you from giving a good speech to your audience.
Once you've finished breaking it into parts you're ready to write up your cards.
Decide on the colour coding you're going to use eg. pink for main ideas and blue for supporting ones. Green is
for quotes and important facts.
Number each card as you go in the same place. The top right hand corner works well for me. I also write which
part of the speech the card is for: introduction, body and conclusion as a heading in the top left. It helps me keep
track of where I'm up to.
Double check the effectiveness of each card as you write them to make sure you are using keyword or phrases
that actually do trigger your memory. Forgetting how you got from one piece of information to the next not only
leaves you stranded but your audience as well.
NB. Be sure to note the names of important people, facts or processes too.
