Posted on: 25 November, 2001
Author: Ron Sathoff
One of the worst fears that public speakers have is that theywill forget their speech. I'm sure none of us would want to feelthe ... of standing in front of an audience not ... to sa One of the worst fears that public speakers have is that theywill forget their speech. I'm sure none of us would want to feelthe embarrassment of standing in front of an audience not knowingwhat to say next.If you do happen to experience a "memory blank" in your speech,there are some things that you should keep in mind. First, DON'TPANIC! The worst thing you can do is to get upset and immediatelystart apologizing to the audience or going "UM UM UM" over andover again.Instead of panicking, just remain quiet, keep eye contact withthe audience, and try to remember what it was that you were goingto say. What may seem an eternity to you will only be a second ortwo to the audience, and your loss of memory will only seem likea pause to them -- as long as you don't announce that you've madea mistake.To prevent embarrassment, you should also to always have a backup to your memory -- a few notecards with a simple outline ofyour speech is always nice to have, even if it remains in yourpocket the whole time.Finally, remember that audiences are usually more forgiving thanwe normally give them credit for. Most groups don't care if youhave to stop to take a look at your notes, as long as you providethem with good information. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com