5 ways to unfreeze your brains during a Presentation
Have you ever felt your thoughts freezing during a presentation? Did you suddenly forget everything you wanted to say? No matter how well prepared you are or how well versed you are with your topic, every speaker suffers a brain freeze at some point in a speech or presentation
If brain freeze has happened during a presentation or speech, don’t be too down on yourself. It has happened to almost everyone from time again – from prime ministers to sportspeople. During such situations, speakers generally make mistakes, try to regain composure, trip over words or is hit by nervous panting.
Fortunately, the mind works at lightning speed. Hence in such situations, the instinct is to realize our plight, come up with a solution, and apply it, all in the blink of an eye! But there are always ways which would help you arm yourself beforehand so that you can avoid the problems altogether.
Here are five ways that can help you unfreeze your brains:
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Don’t lose your composure
The very first thing one should focus on never loses your composure in the first place. Recovering anything that you’ve lost is tough. Learn how to calm yourself so that when that goof occurs, you’ll be much better poised to regain your momentum and avoid mistakes.
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Accept your mistake and move on
The best way to move on with a mistake is to accept your mistake and go ahead. Go forward, without drawing attention “back” to your mistake. If you trip over words, simply say the thing again using the right words. Always remember, at the end of the day you are a human and it is but natural to have such goof-ups.
Also Read – Goal Setting and Stress Handling
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No Covering up
Be open about your mistake, no hiding. One of the things that creates acute self-consciousness is trying to cover up for what and who we really are. It is also the most common thing we tend to do. Trying to hide from your audience is an impossibility. Stay vulnerable with audiences. They’ll like you more and feel that you’re a person they can trust. That adds up to priceless credibility.
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Live in the Present
The best way to react to such situations are to live in the moment. The here-and-now of your speech is really all you must reach audiences. For any speaker being fully present on the stage is the most important thing. If you’re 100% present the chances of making mistakes or blanking out also decreases on the first place. How do you achieve that level of presence? Invest yourself completely in your audience’s needs rather than your own.
Also Read – 5 simple & effective Performance Management tools to adopt!
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Speak to convey, not to excel
Use your speech to communicate and not to excel. If your focus is on becoming excellent then all you will be concerned about will be your goof ups and mistakes. Rather focus on how well you have been able to communicate with the audience. Do your best to get your message across to listeners, on the other hand, and there’ll be nothing to stop you. So even if you do make a mistake, well, it won’t matter, will it?
Remember these points and make sure to unfreeze your brains before every presentation.
