The thought of forgetting your lines strikes fear into speakers and actors everywhere. Preparing, practicing, and finding a good routine can help prevent a memory lapse. Here are a few tips from Toastmasters experts.
After a jarring memory lapse on stage, Ed Tate, 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking, developed a technique he calls “The Tate Rapid-Recall Technique” (or “what to do when you forget your lines”) to help others in similar situations. Among his suggestions:
- Take a deep breath, or several of them. Rather than feed your fear, fuel your confidence. Oxygenate and relax.
- Refocus. Remember your purpose in speaking to this audience. You are here to give them a gift—the gift of your experience.
- Use your notes. Pause, find your place in your notes or outline, make eye contact with your audience to reconnect, and calmly resume your presentation.
- Practice helps make perfect. Rehearse in front of a camera and watch every video. Pay attention to places where you falter. Those are the areas that need more work.
Veteran speech coach Darren LaCroix, 2001 World Champion of Public Speaking, also recommends putting in plenty of practice beforehand and giving your speech out loud more times than you might think necessary. His other tips include:
- When rehearsing, anchor parts of the stage to specific parts of your presentation. This helps you internalize while giving your audience clarity.
- Eye contact is critical. Scan your audience to appear confident as you gather your thoughts. Some speakers prefer to make eye contact with a single person to do this.
Professional speaker and speech coach Patricia Fripp suggests the following:
- Find a signature phrase to use throughout the speech. Many professional speakers do this. If you find yourself blanking, repeating your key phrase gives you a moment to regroup.
- When you realize you’re stumped, pause to review your key points until you’re back in the flow. If you’re using PowerPoint, move forward to your next slide.