'Evidence-based medicine' is a term which a lot of people use and a concept which a lot of people fully intend to use, but frighteningly few people seem to have a genuine grasp of how to approach a problem in an evidence-based fashion. This is the first of several presentations I am going to write aiming to increase knowledge and use of EBM techniques. This presentation looks at constructing a clinical question, which sounds extremely straightforward - and honestly is! However, I speak to a lot of people who leave medical school without this basic knowledge, and this is one of the tools which will change your practice, from doing what people tell you is correct, to becoming a genuine lifelong learner and making the best evidence-based decisions for your patients. Apologies for the lack of a pretty PowerPoint theme, but there are more important things to worry about. I won't apologise for the irreverent tone!