What to Do When You Forget What You're About to Say
Quick answer: If you blank out mid-speech, pause and take a sip of water, or ask the audience a quick question. Those few seconds buy you time to glance at your notes and find your place. Your audience doesn't know what you planned to say, so the gap isn't nearly as obvious to them as it feels to you.
You're mid-sentence, and every eye in the room is on you. And the thing you feared most just happened. Your mind goes completely blank.
It's not a crisis. After 25 years of professional speaking, I can tell you exactly what to do when it happens, because it still happens to me.
Even After 25 Years, I Still Blank Out Sometimes
I was the opening keynote at a conference, walking the room while I spoke. Someone in the audience asked me something midway through. I answered it, and then I completely lost my place. I had no idea what I was about to say next.
What I didn't want to do was turn around and check my slide. So I put a hand on my hip and turned to someone at the nearest table. I looked at them and asked, "What was I talking about?”
The audience laughed. I laughed too. And that gave me just enough time to remember exactly where I was.
Two Things Worth Remembering
The audience doesn't know what you're about to say. They're not fortune tellers. They don't know what you planned on saying. If you skip a line or forget a detail, they have no idea that anything is missing.
Trust the work that you already did. You prepared, and you know this material. The version that comes out under pressure is still yours, even if it isn't word for word what you had rehearsed.
There's an old saying in the speaking world: every talk is actually three speeches. The one you planned, the one you gave, and the one you wish you'd given. All three teach you something for next time.
Two Strategies That Actually Work
1. Build slides as triggers, not scripts. Keep them simple. One image can hold an entire story in your head better than a bullet list ever will. My mom used to say a picture is worth a thousand words. She was right, and it works on stage too.
2. Always keep a glass of water nearby. If you blank, pause and take a sip, or turn it into a question for the room: "What questions do you have so far?" Whichever one you do buys you a few seconds to glance at your notes and get back on track. If nobody has a question, just say so. Just say okay and keep going. Nobody will think twice about it.
Quick Recap
Keep slides visual, not word-heavy
Always have water within reach
If you blank, pause, sip, or ask the room a question
Remember: your audience doesn't know the script
Trust your prep. The words will come.
This topic is dicussed Episode 431 of the Be In Demand podcast, where I go into more detail on this and more.
If speaking is something you've been wanting to improve, whether that's writing a signature speech or building the kind of executive presence that makes you the obvious next choice, I currently have room for 2 new clients . Book an Executive Presence Audit here.
