The fear of forgetting your words

We can all imagine the situation: you’re presenting your new products to some clients, or you’re presenting your project to the big boss and suddenly you forget the word you really need. So you stop. Your mind is totally blank. There are no words in your brain anymore! You stand there, in front of the audience, your mouth opening and closing like a goldfish…and everyone is staring back at you. Waiting…

Participants in my presentation skills training nearly all tell me that they are scared of not finding the right words. No one wants to find themselves in the nightmare scenario above. 

Be reassured that in my presentation skills training, we notice that when a participant forgets a word, it's a lot less noticeable to the audience than it is to the person who's presenting. 

How can you manage forgetting words ?

1. The first technique starts before you say anything. Preparation. Make sure you prepare a list of key words you’ll need for your presentation. It’s ok to forget vocabulary but you should have the really important words - and not only words, also phrases - ready to use, along with the correct pronunciation. You can also write down any questions you might be asked along with your answers. 
2. You’ve forgotten a word or maybe you’ve started a sentence that you just can’t finish. The first thing to do is stop and breathe. And then start again in a different way. Very often, you think you can’t say something in the correct way, but in fact you just can’t say it in exactly the same way you would in your own language. Why? Because your language and English are not the same. Even French does not structure its sentences in exactly the same way as English and sometimes you cannot translate exactly what you have in your head. 
3. The next tactic is something you all know: explain the word you want to say. If you have a kind audience (and it’s often the case if you know how to engage your audience) someone will tell you the word you need.
4. If you’re a French speaker, you an always try and use the French word with an English accent. You might be totally wrong, but you have around a 50% chance of saying something comprehensible and no one will notice. By the way, there is a phenomenon that linguistic researchers are studying called translanguaging: people using words from other languages with the understanding that most people they are speaking to will know what they’re saying. If anyone comments on it, just tell them you are translanguaging ??
5. Work on your vocabulary. The more you practise recalling words from those places in your brain where they are locked away, the easier it will be to do it when you are in a stressful situation. Try an app like Quizlet to test yourself. 

In the end, there is no secret that is suddenly going to make you remember every word. Sorry! The key is preparation, practice and not getting stressed when it does happen.

If you're interested in working on your presentation skills in English, why not join one of our "Optimiser vos prises de parole" trainings?

You can also download some tips on engaging your audience here.