This is one of the first questions many of my clients ask me. It’s a thought that hovers in the back of the mind for all of us when we are speaking. What if I forget what I am going to say?
First thing – don’t panic! Stop, breathe, pause, smile then continue with your presentation.
Many new speakers will try to learn their speeches word for word. The unfortunate outcome is that if they forget the next word – the rest of the speech goes missing as well. So if this resonates with you – practice your speech, prepare your speech then reduce it to dot points or concepts and speak to these. Have confidence in yourself – you know your content, your message – you are a subject matter expert. Believe in yourself, breathe and share your message.
PowerPoint can help you with this, if appropriate. Speak to the dot points and/or images on your slides. It can be a very handy reminder of where you are going and of the main points you want to share.
Remember, every speaker at some stage in their speaking journey has had a moment where their mind has gone blank. You are not alone; it is not the end of the world.
So next time, if you do have that moment of forgetfulness:
Take a deep breath, pause, perhaps glance at your dot points or the PowerPoint, and see the next point. Think about what you want to say, smile at your audience while you are thinking then continue.
Don’t apologise or draw attention to the fact that you have had a momentary lapse. The audience will never know. Nor will they know what you were going to say so if you pick up your presentation and have left out a bit they will not know. As you get back into the flow you may remember what you were going to say or realise that you want to add something – just slot it into your next point and continue.
A smile is your ‘get out of jail’ card. When you smile at your audience they will smile back, they will never know that your mind is frantically ticking over getting back onto track and finding the next word to say. Believe me it works.
How do I know? Well as I said it happens to all of us at some time and yes it happened to me. I was in full flow – wowing them with my speech and suddenly I just stopped. For the life of me I could not remember what I was going to say next. So I paused, breathed, smiled, thought frantically then continued. The only ones that guessed were a couple of very good friends that know me very well and know my speeches. The audience, well they were coming up and congratulating me on the heartfelt poignant pause that made them really connect with me and take on board my message!
Your mind going blank in the middle of a speech is not the end of the world. Stay in control, don’t panic, breathe, pause, smile, think then proceed as if nothing has happened. To your audience nothing has. You are not alone.
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Trish Springsteen
Get Known Be Seen Specialist, Personal Branding Strategist
Australia’s Leading Expert in Empowering Introverts
Multi International Award Winning Mentor
Speaker, Coach
International Award Winning Best Selling Author
Host Get Known Be Seen WebTV
I Believe in You until You Believe in Yourself
Clients work with Trish because they know she can help them have the confidence and self-belief to make speaking easy. Trish typically works with small business owners, introverts, authors and advocates helping them to promote their business to be visible. Stand out and make it easy for your clients to find you.
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