A cue sheet is the list of every technical action in a live show — lights, audio, video, staging — each with a number, a trigger, and an owner. Where the run of show says what the audience experiences, the cue sheet says what the crew executes to make it happen.
This guide covers what belongs on a cue sheet, a format to copy, and how the sheet meets the clock during the show — because most cues are ultimately about timing.
What belongs on a cue sheet
Every row is one action with everything its operator needs.
Per cue:
- Cue number — the shared language of the headset; called in order, never renumbered mid-run.
- Trigger — the standby and go condition: a spoken line, a clock time, the end of a segment.
- Action — exactly what happens: which fader, which file, which preset.
- Owner — who executes it: audio, lights, video, stage.
- Notes — the thing that goes wrong and what to do when it does.
A cue sheet template
The columns that cover most shows:
| Cue | Trigger | Action | Owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Doors 08:30 | Walk-in playlist + lobby countdown | Audio / FOH | Loop until Q2 standby |
| Q2 | Host at podium | Mics live, walk-in fade | Audio | Standby at 08:58 |
| Q3 | Host: "...welcome our keynote" | Keynote slides to program, stage wash up | Video / Lights | Confidence timer starts |
| Q4 | Keynote timer at 3:00 left | Wrap-up warning visible to speaker | Show caller | Automatic via threshold |
| Q5 | Keynote exits | Transition sting + panel preset | Audio / Lights | Panel count-up starts |
Calling cues: the discipline that makes it work
A cue sheet works because of its conventions. Cues are called as standby, then go — the standby early enough for the operator to be ready, the go at the moment itself. Numbers never change meaning mid-show; a cut cue stays cut rather than renumbering everything after it.
The other half of the discipline is rehearsal: a cue-to-cue pass that runs the sheet's transitions without the full content between them. Cues that survive a cue-to-cue rarely fail in the show.
Where the cue sheet meets the clock
Look down any cue sheet and most triggers are time-shaped: at a clock time, at a segment's end, at a threshold before it. Those cues stop needing a stopwatch and a shouted count when the show's timing runs in a shared room.
In MaestroTimer, the running order carries the time-based triggers itself: a scheduled timer fires the doors-open moment at its clock time, linked timers hand one segment to the next, and a wrap-up threshold puts the warning on the speaker's monitor automatically. The show caller keeps the sheet's spoken cues on the headset and reads segment state from the operator view, while every screen in the room stays in sync.
FAQ
What is a cue sheet in live production?
The numbered list of every technical action in a show — trigger, action, owner, notes — used by the show caller and operators to execute the event. It complements the run of show, which describes the audience-facing sequence.
What is the difference between a cue sheet and a run of show?
The run of show is the segment-by-segment plan of the event; the cue sheet is the technical action list underneath it. One row of the run of show may carry several cues.
How are cues called during a show?
By number, in a standby-then-go pattern over the headset: the standby readies the operator, the go executes. Numbers stay stable once rehearsed.
Can time-based cues fire automatically?
The timing layer can carry them: scheduled timers fire at clock times, linked timers chain segments, and wrap-up thresholds surface speaker warnings — leaving the called cues for moments that need human judgment.
Put the clock cues on rails
MaestroTimer runs in the browser: scheduled starts, linked segments, automatic wrap-up warnings, and synced views for the caller and the stage — the timing half of your cue sheet, executed.