President's Tip of the Week

The Seven Thinking Sins of Public Speaking, part 4
(11/17/08)

from Speaking about Presenting by Olivia Mitchell

7. My mind will go blank, I'll go red and I'll die of humiliation

Truth: You can handle this - you've probably handled far worse things in your life and you won't die. Mind blanks can happen in the stress of a presentation.

Solution: Accept that it's possible that a mind blank might happen and prepare for it. Have a set of notes that you can refer to, or arrange for a colleague in the audience to prompt you from a script.

Rehearse dealing with a mind blank. Do this in front of 1 or 2 friends. Start delivering your presentation, then pretend that your mind has gone blank. Stop, look down at your notes, take a breath, find where you are and what you want to say next, look up again and find someone to talk to - and start speaking again.

Get feedback from your friends on how long it took, and how it looked. To you it may well feel like an age, but it was probably just a few seconds. And your audience can see what you were doing and will be quite happy to wait till you are ready again. Practice this routine several times until it becomes a comfortable habit. Now if it does happen in a presentation, you'll have your Plan B ready for action.

Paradoxically, because you're now prepared for a mind blank and know that you can deal with it, it's less likely to happen.

Conclusion

None of the things that you think at the time are disasters, truly are disasters. Stuff happens in presentations. Mentally accept that stuff happens and mentally prepare for when stuff happens. If you've got a "thinking sin" that I haven't discussed here, that you'd like some help with, post it in the comments. I'll reply with some ideas.

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