Di Three-Second Fix For Di Moment Wey You Lose Where You Dey

You don talk for ten minutes and everything dey go well. Di room dey follow you, wetin you dey talk dey land well, then you reach for di next thing and e just no dey there. Di sentence wey you dey middle of, e no get end. Di bar wey you don play four hundred times, e no get next note. One small silence come, but e loud well well, and everybody face for di room still dey face you.

Na dis part nobody go tell you: dis dey happen to everybody wey dey perform regular, even di people wey you go call di best for di room. Concert soloist go lose their point. Senior partner go forget di number. Di difference na say dem get one specific thing wey dem dey do for di next three seconds, and na di same thing always.

Dis fix short well well, you fit learn am today, and e dey work for any kind format: big speech, oral defense, audition, wedding toast, or di first time you dey pitch idea to investor.

Wetin I go do if I lose where I dey for middle of presentation?

Stop di sentence, breathe one time for your normal speed, repeat your last clear point loud loud, then continue from there. Na dat na di whole fix, e dey take about three seconds, and e dey work because your last clear point still dey inside di room, so as you repeat am, e go put you back for di track wey you don dey run before.

No try finish di sentence wey don break. Sentence wey you no fit land go turn to filler words, and na filler words be di thing wey room go hear as panic. Stop am clean, even if e dey middle of clause. Di sudden stop go read like person wey choose to pause, and na normal thing wey people wey dey speak dey do.

No explain am too. If you talk say, "Sorry, I don completely lose my train of thought," e go cost you di room attention and e no go give you anything back, because now everybody dey watch how you go recover instead of di content. Almost nobody for di audience sabi where you dey go. Na only you sabi, dat one mean say na only you fit tell say something don miss.

Why pause dey read better pass make you dey force pass through?

Because pause na di kind thing wey people wey get confidence dey do on purpose, but scrambling no be so. Di room no get way to know say your silence no be by your own choice, but e fit hear as your pace dey rise, your voice dey thin, and sentence wey no complete from back row.

Na your pace dey expose you. Everything else about your material na content wey audience go evaluate, but speed na signal wey dem dey read immediately without any effort. Keep your normal rhythm as you pass through di gap, and di gap go turn to emphasis. If you speed up through am, you don already tell di room say something no correct, and na information wey dem no get before, dem no fit unknow am again.

Body reason still dey why you suppose breathe instead of hurry. Di moment wey you lose where you dey, di rush go come on top am, and di first thing e go do na to make your breath dey high and shallow. One breath wey get normal depth, wey you take on purpose, go buy you di two seconds wey you need, and e go stop your voice from getting thin for di next sentence.

Three seconds go feel like plenty time for inside, but for outside e no be anything at all. Test am one time with stopwatch, you go stop to dey fear am.

Which sentence I go use to enter back?

Write your own recovery sentence before time, use your own words, and carry am. Something like "Di point wey I want make you take from dat one na..." or "Make I put di important part again," or just "So, make we go back to di number."

Di reason wey you go decide am before time na because you no go fit make am fresh for live. Di exact moment wey you need sentence na di same moment wey your power to compose one don comot, so di honest plan na to already get one wey don ready. Pick words wey you go really talk out loud, because phrase wey sound like another person script no go come out well under pressure.

One sentence dey enough. Two don turn to speech about how you lose your place. Make am short, make am face forward, and make sure say e dey end by pointing to di content, no be you.

Then put am for somewhere physical. For top of your notes, for card wey dey behind your badge, inside di front of di music folder. Dat card only need hold one line: di sentence wey you no fit compose for di moment but wey you fit read easy easy.

Why my mind dey go blank for di part wey I sabi pass?

Because di parts wey you sabi pass na di ones wey dey run by themselves, and under pressure, people go start to dey steer automatic skills with hand. Di moment wey conscious control take over movement or passage wey don dey fine on im own, di whole thing go slow down and e go dey less correct.

Dis one dey show clear for research. When dem ask golfers to talk out loud during competition round wey get cash prize dey ground, and dem go read their scores back to di whole group afterward, di players wey get high skill start to dey talk plenty more technical rules pass how dem dey do for practice, especially while dem dey putting, and di effect strong pass for di players wey dey prone to dat kind self-monitoring. Their skill no change overnight. Na their attention climb enter am.

E worth to add one honest correction, because di popular version of dis idea too simple. Sport psychologists don argue say self-focus no dey always hurt, and wetin matter na wetin you dey attend to and how. Attention wey dey for outcome, audience, or di mechanics of something wey don already dey automatic, dey cost am well. Attention wey dey for di next intention, di phrase, di point, di target, no dey cost am and e dey help most times.

Na dat na why di fix dey work. As you repeat your last clear point, e dey aim your attention go outward, back to di content, and na di only place wey e no dey cost you anything.

How I go stop am from happening again next time?

Rehearse di recovery, no be di material alone. One time for every practice run, stop yourself on purpose for middle of sentence, breathe, say your recovery line and continue. Three or four times, e go stop to be crisis and e go turn to normal move.

Most people dey rehearse only di version wey everything dey go correct, and dat one leave dem without any plan for di one scenario wey dem really dey fear. To practice di failure na wetin dey remove di fear from am, because di fear never really be about forgetting. Na about no sabi wetin dey happen next.

As you dey there, rehearse di hard section on im own too, for full speed and out loud, start from di part wey you dey always glide over. Di place wey you dey lose your point na di same place wey you never quietly practice alone.

When another person mind go blank for your front

You go dey audience for dis one plenty times pass how you go dey stage for am, and dere dey four things wey you fit do wey no go cost you anything but dem go land well well.

Keep your face open and your eyes for dem. No look down for your phone, no glance to your colleague, and no make sympathetic face. Person wey dey scan for friendly face for bad moment dey look for one thing only, and to be di person wey give dem dat one na real service.

No rescue dem by finishing di sentence for dem. E go read like help but e go land like verdict, because e dey tell di room say dem for no fit reach there alone. Give dem di three seconds. Dem almost certainly get way to come back.

Then, afterward, name di recovery out loud to dem. No be "you were great," wey dem no go believe, but di specific thing: "you lost your place for di ten minute mark and I no fit tell where you pick am back up." Most people never find out say dem handle am well, because nobody dey tell dem, and to hear am go change how dem waka enter di next one. If somebody dey around wey their opinion about dem matter, talk am where dat person go fit hear am. E dey cost you just one sentence.

Dat one worth to do am for im own sake, and return still dey inside am too. To watch another person come back from blank moment na di cheapest way wey dey to learn say room dey forgive am, and na dat belief go steady your hand di day wey e go happen to you.

Where We Get Am

• National Library of Medicine, The fourth dimension: A motoric perspective on the anxiety-performance relationship
• National Library of Medicine, Evidence for Skill Level Differences in the Thought Processes of Golfers During High and Low Pressure Situations
• National Library of Medicine, Music Performance Anxiety: Can Expressive Writing Intervention Help?