What palm cards are
A palm card is a small card, about the size of your palm, with the main points of a talk written on it. You hold a short stack of them while you speak and move to the next card as you move to the next idea.
The name depends on where you live. In Australia they are usually called palm cards. In the UK the same thing is usually a cue card, and in the US people tend to say note cards or index cards. The idea is the same everywhere: short prompts, not a script.
Why teachers ask for them
Oral presentations are assessed on how you speak as well as what you say. Eye contact, pace and confidence all count. A full script pulls your eyes down to the page, so many teachers ask for palm cards instead and some set a limit on how many you can use.
Palm cards are a middle ground. You do not have to memorise every word, but you still have to know your material well enough to speak in your own words. They also show the teacher you have planned the structure of your talk.
What goes on a palm card
Each card should cover one part of the speech. A typical set looks like this:
- Introduction card: your opening line or hook, and the topic.
- One card per main point: the point, a piece of evidence or an example, and a link to the next point.
- Conclusion card: a summary and your closing line.
On each card, keep to:
- a short heading so you know where you are at a glance
- three to five key words or short phrases
- exact wording only for things you must get right, such as a quote, a date or a statistic
- reminders like pause, slow down or look up
- a card number in the corner
Write large enough to read at arm’s length. If you have to bring the card close to your face, there is too much on it.
An example card
Here is the second card from a short persuasive speech about school canteens. The full paragraph might be 80 words long. The card keeps only what the speaker needs to remember it.
Point 1: price
- Lunch from home: usually cheaper
- Example: my weekly canteen spend
- Link: but cost isn’t everything…
Pause. Look up.
Palm cards, scripts and slides
Each option has a place. Palm cards sit between the two others.
| Option | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Full script | Formal speeches where exact wording matters | Reading aloud, little eye contact |
| Palm cards | Class presentations, debates, speeches with a time limit | Too much text turns them back into a script |
| Slides | Showing images, charts and data to the audience | Reading off the screen with your back to the room |
Slides are for the audience. Palm cards are for you. Many presenters use both: slides to show the evidence and palm cards to stay on track.
How to make palm cards
You can write palm cards by hand on cut-down card, but if your speech is already typed it is quicker to lay them out and print them.
- Write the full speech first It is easier to cut down a finished speech than to plan one straight onto cards.
- Split it into sections One section per card: introduction, each main point, conclusion.
- Cut each section to key words Keep the words that trigger the rest of the sentence in your memory.
- Print, number and practise Print the cards, cut them out and rehearse aloud at least three times with the cards in your hand.
In the EasyPalmCards editor you can paste your speech or import a Word or Pages file, and it splits the text across cards for you. Change the wording on any card, then print 8 palm cards to an A4 page. The step-by-step palm card guide covers card breaks in more detail, and how to write cue cards explains how to cut a script down to prompts.