Definition of cue card

The term "cue card" originated in the 1940s, during the golden era of live television broadcasting. Back then, studio cameras were large and bulky, and artificial lighting was unreliable. As a result, actors and presenters had trouble seeing their cues and prompts, which made live performances difficult and error-prone. To help alleviate this problem, television producers began experimenting with new technologies to provide actors and presenters with visual cues and prompts. One such technology was the "prompter" – a device that consisted of a fairly small camera fitted with a wide-angle lens, which would display messages to the presenter through a series of mirrors placed above and behind the camera. These messages were written on small cards that were easy to handle and carry around, which were commonly referred to as "cue cards" or "insert cue cards". They were typically made out of stiff cardboard or stiff paper and printed with large, bold letters that were easy to read. The original term "cue cards" derived from the fact that they served as visual cues to help actors and presenters remember their lines and perform their roles accurately and confidently, during live television broadcasts. By the 1960s, the use of cue cards had become an integral part of the television broadcasting industry, and it continues to be a widely used technique in live broadcasting to this day.