Protect Your Talk from Memory Lapses (607)
It's a speaker's worst nightmare: blanking on words during a speech.
It can happen to anyone.
But it can be managed – when you build your talk from keywords that resonate emotionally for you.
Here's a reliable way to do it.
CREATING A RECOVERY PLAN
- First, design your slides with as few words as possible. It’s OK to lean on your slides a bit to help you remember your words. But strive not to rely heavily on them.
- Doing so would interrupt your eye contact with the crowd while making the slides more important than they deserve to be. Remember, you're the star of the show, not the slides.
DITCH THE SCRIPT
- Second, strive to learn the presentation narrative just as you would a talk - without slides.
Follow these five steps:
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Write the speech out in full sentences, but DON'T try memorizing it; the audience will be able to tell if you're reciting a script in full sentences - usually your eye contact with the crowd suffers as you look within yourself for the words, which only adds to the damage you already inflict on your performance by delivering a stilted outing.
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Pick 2-3 key words or a brief phrase from each sentence or paragraph of this script that resonate for you, making it easier to recall the text.
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Practice delivering the speech to the key words.
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Keep changing and throwing away key words that leave you unmoved or feel unnecessary.
- Once you can deliver the narrative while making it sound as natural as possible, practice doing the presentation with slides.
RECOVERING FROM A MEMORY LAPSE
If you are presenting for an audience and blank on your words, simply pause.
This tactic freezes your show and protects it until you work your way out of this interruption.
Don't worry about time passing. You maintain control of the situation as long as you remain immobile.
Backtrack in your mind through the keywords.
FINDING THE THREAD
When you come across one you remember, start to roll forward in your mind until you recall what you were going to talk about next, before you suffered your memory lapse.
Ultimately, you may come out of this disruption a bit ahead in your narrative of where you intended to be. But stay alert and do your best to weave a transition that pulls your thoughts together as you resume speaking.
DON'T APOLOGIZE
Don’t apologize to the crowd if you struggle to find your place, by saying "I'm sorry ...." or by exclaiming: "Uh, I forgot what I was going to say."
For one thing, you don't owe them an apology. For another, they may not notice anything is amiss.
Simply pause and go through your touchpoints, and wait for the memory to kick in.
CAREER GROWTH
Knowing how to protect yourself from embarrassing stumbles on the speaking stage is critical if you're going to advance in your career and handle greater speaking responsibilities, whether the task is showing a new product or talking up your brand in a conference.
You can help you cause by going to michaelbarris.com/mini-course and subscribing to a free public speaking series based on my bestselling book, “How to Become a Super Speaker: The 7 Principles for Speaking with Confidence and Connecting with Audiences.”
You will receive tips, strategies and take-action assignments to guide you toward delivering seamless talks and presentations that achieve your desired speaking results.
Just imagine the impact you'll make by knowing how to handle stumbles.
The day may come when you have the speaker's worst nightmare. But the good news is, you will know how to manage it.
MICHAEL BARRIS
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Michael Barris is the consummate evangelist for speaking better to be your best and create an impact with your career.
He is a transformational public speaking coach and speaker who has a background as a former adjunct professor of public speaking and expository writing at Rutgers University.
He also is the author of "How to Become a Super Speaker: The 7 Principles for Speaking with Confidence and Connecting with Audiences."
A longtime journalist, he worked for Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal, producing articles on many of the world’s biggest financial and business news stories.
In total, he has produced over 3, 500 print articles over his journalism career, including more than 300 for the Wall Street Journal, and countless more published online.
Learn more about Michael and his work at michaelbarris.com
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