Cue cards are small cards — paper or digital — that each carry one short prompt: a question, keyword, or bullet point that cues your memory of a larger idea. Students use them to drill facts for exams, and speakers use them to stay on track during a talk without reading from a script.
"Cue card" is the UK-English term for what Americans call a flashcard — a small card with a prompt on one side and the answer, explanation, or next thought on the other. The word "cue" makes the use case clearer: the card cues your memory, so you don't need to read a full paragraph to recall the idea.
Cue cards have two main uses. In revision, a student writes a question on the front and the answer on the back, then drills the deck until recall is automatic. In public speaking, a speaker writes the key bullet points for each section of a talk on numbered cards and holds them at the lectern — enough cue to keep on track without reading word-for-word.
Online cue cards do the same thing as paper, with three big advantages: you can generate them from existing notes in seconds, you can study them on the bus from your phone, and you can rearrange the deck without re-writing anything. For most students and speakers, online cue cards have replaced index cards entirely.
Cue cards and flashcards are the same study tool under two names. "Cue card" is the usual term in British and Commonwealth English; "flashcard" is standard in American English. For revision, the two words are fully interchangeable — a small card with a prompt on the front and an answer on the back.
The one real difference shows up in public speaking. Speech cue cards are not question-and-answer cards: they hold numbered talking points — a heading and a few keywords per card — that prompt a speaker through each section of a talk. Nobody calls those flashcards.
In short: if you're studying, cue cards and flashcards are the same thing, and any good flashcard maker builds both. If you're preparing a speech, make numbered cue cards with short bullet cues instead of question-answer pairs.
