When giving presentations, even the most experienced presenters need to hand some notes to jog their memory and support their script. So, ruling out cue cards to be symbolic of unpreparedness, would be wrong. Rather, cue cards are your confidence cards that consist of pointers or keywords to keep up the flow of your PowerPoint presentation.
It won’t be far from truth if we say maintaining note cards during presentations shows that you are making an attempt to get your facts right. Not only this, using cue cards plays a pivotal role in engaging the audience and elevating your confidence level.
Firstly, these cards are a simple information layout that comes handy. Thus, by no chance will you be forgetting even a single stance. This results in a more organized presentation that gives you enough time to interact with your audience.
Even when your slides keep running in the background, you can move around freely in the middle of your audience without even worrying about lack of any script. So, you can maintain eye contact and respond to queries from audience without any stress or nervousness of letting down the tone of your script by default.
Tips on how to use cue cards to support a confident presentation
- Use only one side of the card and keep the other side blank so that whatever you have written is visible to you only. It would be even more beneficial if you number down your cards in a proper sequence so that you know exactly which point comes next in the line.
- As for the designing part, write clearly, state bullet points from readability point of view, use pointers to highlight main idea, pen down one main heading on a specific cue card and do not exaggerate information, for it may not serve the exact purpose of your cards.
- Rather than getting engrossed in your cue cards, it is preferable to have a glimpse every now-and-then. This is because cards are meant to enhance your spontaneity and rapport with the audience, so never go wrong on that front.
- It may look simple, but using cue cards does require previous rehearsals, so practice well with your confidence cards before going out for the final presentation.
For the moment, these may appear to be simple reference notes to you, but just make an attempt once. You will most definitely feel and look more present, with your presentation getting exceptionally enlivened.
