PAO stands for person, action, object. For every card you choose a person, something that person typically does, and an object they use.
| Card | Person | Action | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♠ | a pilot | flying | a kite |
| K♥ | a king | waving | a crown |
| 7♦ | a chef | stirring | a pot |
| 2♣ | a farmer | planting | a seed |
| Q♠ | a queen | pouring | a teapot |
| 5♥ | a firefighter | spraying | a hose |
Key idea
For three cards in a row: the person from the first card, the action from the second, the object from the third. One picture, three cards.
Worked example: Worked example
The cards come up A♠, 7♦, K♥. What is the picture?
- Person from A♠: a pilot.
- Action from 7♦: stirring.
- Object from K♥: a crown.
Answer: A pilot stirring a crown.
Why it works
Three cards per picture means a deck of 52 needs only 18 pictures (17 groups of three, and one left over), so a journey with 18 stops holds it.
Common mistake
Building a story across pictures. Each PAO picture sits on its own spot; the route does the ordering.