A good cue card follows a simple template: one card per programme item, time and title at the top, three to five keywords in the middle, the handover at the bottom. Write full sentences on a card and you will read aloud, and lose the room.
The anatomy of a card
A fixed three-zone layout has proven itself. The header names the programme item, its planned time and duration, plus a running number in case the cards ever hit the floor. The core block holds the keywords: who am I introducing, which two facts about the person or topic, which question opens the conversation. Names appear with stress marks; for international guests, in a phonetic spelling of your own system. The footer settles the handover: who enters from which side, who takes the microphone, what is the cue for the show caller. Nothing else belongs on the card. Anything fully phrased tempts you to read it out, and reading out instantly sounds like duty.
Format and material
Cards in A6 or A5 on firm paper work best, written on one side, printed large enough to read under stage light without glasses. One colour per programme section helps when the running order changes. Tablets look more modern but have drawbacks: they reflect light, switch off, and make every spontaneous note awkward. After more than 500 events, Jasmin Wölke still works with paper cards and adds handwritten changes until shortly before doors. At the International Business Summit, a corporate reference with 15 sessions over two days, one numbered card set per day held the programme together, even when two slots swapped places at short notice.
Cards are the result, not the start
The card is the last step of preparation, not the first. Before it come the briefing and the running order: only when sequence, timings and handovers are fixed is it worth writing cards. Reverse the order and you write everything twice. For your own event this means: finalise the running order, create one card per programme item, note keywords instead of sentences, and test each line out loud. Whatever feels clumsy when spoken gets replaced by a better keyword on the card.