Gone Blank!

Your palms are sweaty, your knees are weak and there is a frog stuck in your throat. The emcee announces your name and as you step up on the stage, you wondered why you agreed to give a speech in the first place.

You take a deep breath, open your mouth and .......you forgot what you wanted to say.

Going blank while giving a speech is a nightmare for anyone who has ever dared to speak in front of an audience. It is one of the worst fears that have stopped many people from speaking in public.

However, there are a few strategies that you can easily adopt to ensure that you will always remember your speech. Applying these strategies will allow you to minimise the risk of forgetting what you wanted to say, thereby making you a more confident and convincing speaker.

Today, I am going to share one important strategy and that is:

Don’t memorise!

I have seen many speakers do this. They print out their 800 words speech and try to memorise it word by word. When they are on stage, there is a high chance that the nervousness will cause them to forget some of those words. The moment that happens, they will start to panic and they end up forgetting the whole script.

Therefore, don’t memorise your speech word by word!

The trick is to internalise.

Ask yourself, what is the main message that you want to share with your audience?

Once you are sure of your main message, remember the key points about it that you want to share with your audience. Try to keep those key points under 3 main points. Some speakers have 10 points in a 7 minutes speech. Trust me; the audience would not be able to grasp so many points if your speech only lasts for 7 minutes.

If you really need to have more than 3 main points, then use acronyms to link them. It makes it easier for you and your audience to remember them.

After you have done that, rehearse how you are going to elaborate on your 3 main points. You will find that after a few rehearsals, your speech will start to form itself and your delivery will get smoother. Let’s face it, it is a lot easier to remember 3 main points than trying to memorise 800 words.

By knowing your main message with clarity and identifying the 3 main points that supports your main message, you will find it easier to grasp the overall essence of your speech.

Therefore, in the worst case scenario, if you do go blank on stage, ask yourself, what is your main message? What are your 3 main points? Elaborate on it and you shall do fine on stage.

Speak To Inspire and Be Inspired,
Bernard Yong