 Hey folks, using note cards can be a great way to enhance your presentation while giving a speech. However, they can also become a distraction from your message. In this short video, I'm going to give you five easy tips to help you take your note card game to the next level. Let's get to it. Tip number one is to use small note cards. I highly recommend using three inch by five inch cards. They're a good size to be able to hold in the palm of your hand, and they tend to not be very distracting. Four inch by six inch cards can also work, but anything larger starts to become a distraction from your message. This is especially true of really big note cards or full sheets of paper, which make a lot of noise and can be a bit cumbersome to handle. The second tip is to set up extemporaneous note cards. The idea behind extemporaneous notes is to not prepare a manuscript, but instead to use five note cards that correspond to the five major chunks of the speech. The introduction, your three main points, and the conclusion. As you're setting up your cards, the goal is to set up a keyword outline on your card, which basically just gives you the information that you need to reference and remember where you're at as you work your way through the speech. You don't want to write the entire thing down on the card. Another thing that's important in setting up extemporaneous notes is to only put stuff on one side of the card. If you write on both sides, it can get confusing during your speech, and you might find yourself sitting there going back and forth trying to remember where you're at. Along those lines, another thing that's really helpful is to number the top corner of your cards so that you can keep track of which card you're on and easily move between them during the speech, again, without it becoming distraction. Tip number three, hold your notes in a single hand. This is really important for a couple of reasons. First off, by having your notes in a single hand, it'll make it easier for you to reference your notes while still gesturing during the speech. It's also important because it allows you to remain open with your audience. If you cradle your notes in both hands, it'll prevent you from gesturing and can impact your ability to connect with your audience. You might even try letting your free arm fall down to your side and only bringing it up when you want to make a big gesture. Tip number four, don't read directly from your notes. During the years that I've been teaching, I've seen many students commit this faux pas where they will usually lock their notes in both hands, stare down at their cards, and read directly off their notes for the entirety of their speech. This is really ineffective as it removes connection between you and your audience and ultimately can have a pretty big impact on the quality of your speech. Instead, try to aim for momentary glances at your notes. Remember, these are here to help guide you during the presentation and they're not meant to be the entire speech. It's fine to have a glance, figure out where you're at, then return your focus where it belongs on the audience. And finally, tip number five, practice with your note cards, like a lot. I really can't emphasize this one enough because they think this is a mistake that a lot of folks make is they think by preparing their note cards, the speech is done. In reality, preparing your note cards is just the beginning of getting ready to give a speech. You should invest a lot of time and effort on practicing your speech using your note cards so that you become less dependent upon them. The more you practice, the more you're going to be able to focus on your audience and the less time you're going to be spending looking at your cards while giving your presentation. Well, folks, as always, I hope these tips were useful. As I said at the beginning, note cards can be a really helpful way to enhance your presentation. You just want to try to prevent them from becoming a distraction in your speech. Good luck, and thanks for watching.