Retracing your steps – and bringing your audience along with you – will get you back to where you need to be and keep everyone in step. Tell your audience that you want to review your previous points in preparation for what you’re about to say. So instead of continuing to charge forward, take a few steps back. Losing your train of thought can also be thought of as getting ahead of yourself. If you need them, you can explain to your audience that you want to read it out to them because of the importance of the content. To make it look like you planned the pause, act naturally, and keep your notes close by. They might be considering what to do next (which isn’t the same thing), taking their time to carefully phrase their next statement, or giving the audience a moment to soak up the information. There are many reasons a speaker could be pausing in their message other than losing their train of thought. So take these tips for recovering from it, and leave an open slot in your open memory to make a swift rebound from your next “brain freeze.” If you’re giving a talk, you’d better believe you’re going to lose your train of thought at some point. In fact, spacing out for a moment can even be made to look like it was an intentional pause, simply a part of the experience of giving a presentation. No one has to know you’ve lost your train of thought, as there are several good ways to hide it or at least make it less noticeable. You’ll find yourself at a loss for words – at least momentarily.Ī memory lapse may feel like an embarrassment, but it doesn’t have to be one. When the mind can’t act fast enough, it’s doomsday for your sense of focus and intent. If more working memory slots are required than are available, then you’re likely to have to either quickly choose one or face that crossroads. Unfortunately, this will (literally) give you pause. Imagine your mind is faced with multiple, possibly vastly different ideas about what to say (or how to say something) during a presentation. Losing one’s train of thought is less like a train running off the tracks than it is a car coming to a crossroads. ![]() ![]() There are limited “slots” for information in the working memory to be held. The human mind has a limited working memory, and sometimes it lags, especially when there are a lot ideas coming to it at once. The brain must generate and hold on to ideas, piece the ideas together, and string them into coherent and well-phrased sentences. Why do we lose our train of thought? Engaging in speech of any kind requires a lot of cognitive effort. It’s not whether you fall victim to it or not – because everyone does – but what you do afterward that really sets speakers apart. ![]() Losing your train of thought happens – it’s just part of being a human with capability of speech.
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