Have you ever get lost in the middle of your presentation - when you’re speaking? Or maybe you haven’t, but want to anticipate it? Here are 4 ways to do when you get lost, hold the presentation for a while, and let your mind get back on the game!

1. Tell Story

Telling related story is one of the “smoothest” way to hide your absent-minded trait (just kidding, everyone ever forget something, right?). Just remember to tell it naturally. Real-life story is highly recommended. Making your own story is also cool if you don’t have a real-life one. Just make sure it’s related, not so time-wasting (you need to get back to your presentation), and you shouldn’t look like “telling fake story” when you tell it, people will know it and immediately lose interest in your story.

2. Use Distraction Point

Using distraction point is the easiest way to waste some time and let you remember about your presentation. But, distraction point often only delay the presentation for short amount of time - a minute, or even few seconds. You don’t need any real-life experience or knowledge. One good example is to compliment the audience and let them give applause - that will hold the time for few seconds.

3. Let The Audience Choose

This is the most classy way to hold the time and let your mind find the way. But this method is a risky one. You should be an expert in your field. When you get lost in the middle of your presentation, let the audience choose what to talk about next - much like a Q&A section (but it’s not). If you’re an expert, you’ll be fine ‘cause you’ll be ready for anything the audience asks.

4. Play A Game

Playing a game with the audience wastes a lot of time, surely. But yeah, it’s fun, and it leaves “cheerful speaker” label to you. When you get lost, you can just pick some audience and play a game - or you can even let all of them play the game! Just remember that your game must be well-designed, time-aware, and fun-guaranteed.