One of the worst fears that public speakers have is that they
will forget their speech. I'm sure none of us would want to feel
the embarrassment of standing in front of an audience not
knowing what 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'T
PANIC! The worst thing you can do is to get upset and
immediately start apologizing to the audience or going "UM UM
UM" over and over again.
Instead of panicking, just remain quiet, keep eye contact with
the audience, and try to remember what it was that you were
going to say. What may seem an eternity to you will only be a
second or two to the audience, and your loss of memory will only
seem like a pause to them -- as long as you don't announce that
you've made a mistake.
To prevent embarrassment, you should also to always have a back
up to your memory -- a few notecards with a simple outline of
your speech is always nice to have, even if it remains in your
pocket the whole time.
Finally, remember that audiences are usually more forgiving than
we normally give them credit for. Most groups don't care if you
have to stop to take a look at your notes, as long as you
provide them with good information.
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