The plan and cards
One page for the whole talk: the main point, the opening, two or three points or one story, the close and the last line; then the cue cards, one row per card.
Essential on a first pass: the main point, the opening line and the last line, then the cue cards. They are the shortest plan that lets you rehearse. A reader who skips this sheet tends to rehearse a draft with no stated point and no fixed ending, which makes the timed runs hard to compare. Shaping a short talk explains each line.
The plan
One line per heading is enough. The main point, the opening and the last line are the Start here plan; the rest follows from them. Words at your rate come from the timing tool.
Cue cards
One row per card: the keywords you need, a delivery cue and a time mark. The example row is fictional.
How to use this sheet
- Main point. One sentence. If you cannot say it in one sentence, the points below it are not yet chosen.
- Opening, points or story, close, last line. Write each in the words you will say. The close comes back to the main point; the last line is what the audience hears last (the toast line, the handover or the request).
- Slot and words at my rate. The slot is the organizer's number. "Words at my rate" is a number you type from the timing tool: the words that fill your slot at your own measured speaking rate. The manual's planning figure is 130 words a minute; your measured rate replaces it.
- Cue cards. One row per card. Keywords are the few words that start your memory, not sentences. The delivery cue is an instruction to yourself (pause, slow down, look at). The time mark is the minute, as a number, at which you expect to reach the card; a timed run shows whether you reach each card on pace.
- Our convention: five cards for a talk of three minutes or more, one each for the opening, three middles and the close, and three cards for a shorter talk. One open textbook describes a five-card system (Stand Up, Speak Out, Saylor Academy).
The plan comes from Lena Park's case. Main point: Ruth Park taught every grandchild to cook one dish, and none of them can make it like she does. One story, about the burned dumplings, which is an open fact until Lena's mother says whether Ruth minds it. Last line: "Please join me in raising a glass to Grandma Ruth." Slot 2; about 260 words at her measured 130 words a minute. The starter card holds her opening keywords and a cue to pause after the first line, with a time mark of 0. The 260 words assume her measured rate; her timed runs settle the real figure.
This sheet holds a plan. It does not tell you whether the words fit the slot, and a count at an assumed rate is an estimate: the timing tool and your timed runs settle it. A time mark is your own pacing, not the organizer's. If the organizer changes the slot, change the slot line first and cut whole points to fit, rather than speaking faster.