136. Public Speaking Brain Freeze! What do I do?!

Are you worried about having a complete brain freeze or mental block while public speaking? I've got you! In this episode I share my number one reframe to help you not make brain freeze a big deal, and I share 7 things you can do in the moment.

TRANSCRIPT

Imagine this.

You’re standing in front of a room of people

And you’re speaking so well

You don’t have notes.

and then without warning

your brain like turns off.

There is nothing there.

Completely blank.

You don’t know what to say,

You don’t know what to do.

Your heart is going a million miles an hour.

You feel your face turn bright red,

And you’re sure sweat patches are forming in unflattering places.

Welcome to the public speaking mental block, the brain freeze, the ah shit moment.

Has this happened to you?

If so, what did you do? If your technique worked, great. Stick with it. I’ll also share 7 things you can do to break brain freeze in today’s episode.

Maybe you’re just worried it will happen to you.

And this is a fear pattern

Remember Fear is just a negative story you make up about something that hasn’t happened yet.

And if you can make up a a bad story you can make up a good story.

If you want to dive in and clear your speaking fears, you have to do my online course Fear to Fierce. This will take you through practical exercises to clear fearful thoughts from your mind and clear fearful feelings from your body.

If you want to take ownership of yourself and your voice and get really clear and confident on who you are as a speaker, why you actually want to speak and then stoke that magical fire inside – you have to do Fear to Fierce.

And if you want to have a whole lot of strategies to AVOID the public speaking brain freeze, then you’ll find those here too. That’s Fear to Fierce, and because you’re listening to the podcast and I appreciate you .. if you use the code FIERCE at the checkout you’ll see it’s an absolute no brainer to do this for yourself.

This episode of That Voice Podcast isn’t about what to do to avoid the brain freeze, it’s about what to do IN THAT MOMENT should it happen.

Has it happened to me?

Not so much these days because I have so much experience that I don’t even register a brain freeze as one, I’m like a speaking super ninja always ready to react to whatever shit goes down.

In the past, for sure.

I remember doing a corporate presentation once about presentation skills, I had no notes, very minimal slides.

And all of a sudden my brain just left the building.

You know sometimes there’s a trigger for the brain freeze, like someone walking out or giving you a weird look.

This was just out of the blue.

And I couldn’t even get a message to my voice or body.

So I kind of just stood there like a statue trying to reactivate the refidex in my mind to flick through where the hell I was up to.

After what felt like an eternity I carried on.

And it was totally fine.

Because here’s the thing, when you’re public speaking the INTERSTELLAR EFFECT is at play.

What’s the interstellar effect?

Well Interstellar is one of my favourite movies (if you haven’t seen it, watch it) if you have seen it you may remember there’s a planet they visit – where every hour on the planet is roughly 7 years in Earth time.

And this is what happens when you’re speaking and you pause.

You feel like you’re on planet 7 years, and the audience is on planet one hour.

And you know this is true if you’ve ever had a massive long pause due to brain freeze or otherwise.

And you say to a friend afterwards – oh my god did you notice when I totally forgot where I was up to?

And they usually say – nah didn’t notice at all, or I thought that was for dramatic effect.

So it’s good lesson in the importance of pausing, our audience needs more time to absorb what we say than you might think.

You have permission to pause, pausing is a gift. Pausing is not a bad thing. Might do another whole episode on the power of pause.

But Sally!! What if I get a total brain freeze, what do I do in that moment. I’ll be sharing 7 things you can do.

First, one of my favourite reframes which will change the way you think and speak about public speaking worries.

Replace WHAT IF with IF I.

There is no light at the end of the what if tunnel.

What if I forget my words, what if the audience hates me, what if I get a question I can’t answer, what if I have a wardrobe malfunction, what if I have a brain freeze.

The language of WHAT IF – in this context -  puts you out of cause and into effect. It DISEMPOWERS you. It puts you into the damsel in distress character setting yourself up to need to be rescued, before you’re even started!

You can get back in control and take back the lead on your speaking by using IF I.

If I forget my words, I’m going to XYZ.

If I get a question I can’t answer, I’m going to ABC.

By the way I have answers to all these questions in previous episodes and also my Members Only Masterclass Vault. So shoot me a msg if you’d like more info on that.

And using today’s topic.

Rather than WHAT IF I have a brain freeze?

We say IF I have a brain freeze, I’m going to ….. I don’t know it’s your choice.

The 7 things I use are simply this.

If I have a brain freeze, I’m going to take a deep breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth, and I’m going to stay still and grounded while I do this.

The main cause of brain freeze is because you’re oxygen depriving your brain because your breathing has gone all out of whack. You’re not breathing in on the pause and out while you’re speaking, it’s likely you’ve started holding your breath and snatching little breaths along the way – and this is a surefire way for your brain to checkout. So that deep breath is highly likely to wake it back up.

Ok number two, if I have a brain freeze, I’m going to … have a drink of water. Buys you time, the swallowing motion relaxes your throat, the hydration recharges your system. Great option.

Number three, if I have a brain freeze I’m going to – flick to an emergency slide. I use this a lot in corporate workshops, not just if I lose my place, it’s great if I need to switch up the energy, and I’ll usually go to a comedy video. If you can incorporate a comedy video, just a short one – and pop it on the last slide or a new tab. People will remember the laugh AND their attention is not on you so you can regroup.

Number four, if I have a brain freeze I’m going to ask the audience a deep rhetorical question. Questions like how does that sit with you? Or what would you do in that scenario? Something that makes sense to have a big pause. They think while you think. And sometimes you’ll get an audience who doesn’t know it’s a rhetorical question and they’ll actually raise their hand and answer -brilliant. Audience interaction and chances are while they’re answering you’ll twig to where you’re up to.

Are you loving these tips? When you have these in your pocket it really takes the sting out of any fear of brain freeze. This is why I don’t have this fear when I speak, because it’s such a non-event.

Alright number five – If I have a brain freeze. I’m going to make a joke about it. Now I don’t love self-deprecation, yet I am Australian, we like to do it and in the right context it can be just the thing to connect with your audience on a human level. I remember once totally losing my train of thought and I said something super corny like ‘Ok my train of thought has left the station and I am not on it. Can someone help a sister out and remind me what I was just saying.’

I know first hand the majority of people don’t love public speaking and presenting, so while I wouldn’t recommend doing this in a high stakes board meeting or a job interview, relaxed speaking events and corporate trainings it actually works really well.

Number six, if I have a brain freeze, I’m going to go to my notes. I usually speak without notes, yet I always have a print out either at the lectern or even just on the table where I’m sitting, so if I did need to walk over and have a look, I have no problems doing that. You can also use your safety line. This is one line that can be used anywhere in your presentation and you deliver it slowly and with conviction to buy you time. For example one of my safety lines is. You have a powerful voice, a voice that matters, a voice that deserves to be heard and a voice that you have a responsibility to use.

See dramatic, lots of pauses – and I practice this line almost every day of my life, so when everything else has exited my head, that line is there.

And finally, if I have a brain freeze, I am going to just go with it. Whatever comes to you in that moment. I had one client who said she needed a quick wee break and went to the toilet – again make sure the context fits this one. For example in a TedxTalk, if you have a mental block, you just get a prompt from the front row – and then they cut it from the internet recording. Easy peezy.

The thing is, having a brain freeze, mental block, freak out whatever you want to call it. It’s only a thing if you decide it’s a thing.

Don’t let the perfectionist ruin a good time.

Speaking is not about doing your speech right, or getting every word perfect, or ensuring things go exactly as you planned.

Speaking is about using your voice to release energy to other people. To inform, to inspire, to motivate, to collaborate, to contribute – so go back to why you’re speaking.

I get it. The perfectionist and the control freak love to have parties in my head. And I’m am so much better these days at kicking them the fuck out.

Because the reality is the perfectionist is the Ice Queen and the Ice Queen bring on the brain freeze, and to keep with my icy puns, it is time to LET IT GO.

Wow, so much gold in this episode. Please share this one with your friends and your network, tag me @sallyprosservoice.

Replace the what if with the if I, and remember you have a whole bag of tricks to make mental blocks not a thing. You can breathe. Drink water, go to a video, ask a question, make a joke, refer to your notes or just let it go and go with it.