Mind Goes Blank When Presenting? Here’s What to Do (and How to Stop It Happening)

Do you find that, no matter how much you practise, your mind goes blank in the middle of your presentations?

Or maybe you’ve got a presentation coming up, and you’re imagining yourself forgetting everything, with that terrifying image in your head of the audience looking at you expectantly.

First things first, let’s replace that image in your head. You might still imagine yourself blanking, but this time, picture yourself intentionally pausing when it happens and regaining that feeling of control. You get back into the flow, and the rest of your presentation goes smoothly.

In this guide, we’ll take you through the methods we use at Body Talk to combat the mind blank moment, and how you can prevent it going into your presentation. Let’s start with why mind blanks happen.

Why does your mind go blank when presenting?

Your mind going blank is a stress response, and it’s completely normal in a situation where you feel under pressure.

You might find that your mind also goes blank when you’re not stressed, like in everyday life and normal conversations. It’s that moment when you walk into a room and forget what you went in there for, or can’t remember what you were going to say to a friend.

This is because your working memory has a more limited capacity than your long-term memory, and it can only hold so much information – and so sometimes what you were just about to say gets dropped. If you put this into the context of a presentation – where you have the added pressure of knowing the audience is watching you – it’s only natural that your working memory might not hold on to everything.

The fight, flight, and freeze response during presentations

You might be fully aware that a presentation can’t cause you physical harm, but your brain isn’t always convinced. As Harvard Medical School writes, this happens because:

1. Your amygdala (the part of your brain that processes emotions) has recognised that you’re feeling intense emotions, like those that come from public speaking anxiety.
2. It signals the hypothalamus, which takes the amygdala at its word, and responds as if you’re in real danger by activating the nervous system.

This usually triggers a fight, flight, or freeze reaction. Fight and flight are different responses, but they cause similar physical reactions. They’re both your body preparing itself to move quickly, and so you might experience an elevated heart rate and muscle tension. A fight-or-flight response is overwhelming and can affect your concentration, leading to mind blanks.

The freeze response, on the other hand, is more like an animal “playing dead” or trying to blend in with its surroundings by being completely still, and it can feel like your body has screeched to a stop at a red light.

Stress and anxiety can block your recall

According to one of Yale’s foremost neuroscientists, Amy Arnsten, the prefrontal cortex can go “off-line” when catecholamines (stress hormones) are released in the brain.

Whilst this wouldn’t be a problem if your life was really in danger, because you would need to prioritise reacting quickly rather than thinking deeply, it’s not ideal for when you’re giving a presentation. You need your prefrontal cortex to access your working memory and make decisions, so if it goes “off-line”, you’re likely to have that blank mind feeling.

You’re overthinking instead of communicating

Overthinking is a very common reason for mind blanks. You might be struggling with imposter syndrome or worrying about how the words sound coming out of your mouth as you say them. Because all of this is going on in your mind, it’s going to be harder for you to relax and focus on remembering your presentation.

A great solution to this is to focus on how you can help the audience instead of worrying what they’re thinking of you. Look outwards instead of inwards and centre your attention on meeting their needs.

What to do when your mind goes blank during a presentation?

So, now you know why your mind might be going blank during presentations – let’s go into what you can do to react to it positively.

Pause and take a slow breath

A lot of people panic when they feel a mind blank, and rush to fill the silence. However, this can lead to you saying things that don’t quite make sense or feeling more flustered. Instead, pause for three seconds (or more) to gather your thoughts. This works because:

• Pausing and breathing helps reset your nervous system. Abbie Little, a researcher in theoretical psychology and medicine at Griffith University in Australia, puts it like this in a BBC article on breathwork: “if we breathe through our mouths at a quicker, shallower pace, we activate the sympathetic nervous system that tells us we are under stress and there’s danger around. Vice versa, if we breathe slowly and deeply through our nose into our belly, we activate the safe, and at-rest, parasympathetic nervous system.“

• Once you slow down, it’s much easier for you to remember where you were. Pausing allows you time to recover from the mind blank and find your flow.
• Pausing between major points also benefits your audience, as it helps them to digest information.

Look at your presentation slides

It’s important not to rely on your presentation slides as a script, because if you start reading from them, it can dilute the connection between you and your audience. That being said, you can absolutely use images or diagrams to reinforce your point to your audience. These visual cues can help to anchor your core message in a presentation, both for your audience and for yourself as you work your way through each part.

Ask the audience a question

Engaging the audience with a question can help you to regain focus. These can be interactive, show of hand questions, or they can be rhetorical and designed just to get the audience thinking whilst you pause and gather your thoughts.

For example, “Pausing here for a moment, who else has experienced this?” or “Circling back to the research I shared, what do you think the effect of this was?”

Use a transition phrase to restart your thoughts

Presenters often rush to use filler words like “um” or “uh” when they’re experiencing a mind blank, especially if it happens mid-sentence. Filler words in themselves are not necessarily a bad thing – they only become a problem when you use them too much, or when you’re using them to try and cover a silence. This can make you appear nervous.

Instead, take ownership and use a professional recovery phrase like “I’m going to check my notes on this,” or “I’m going to come back to this in a moment.”

What not to do when your mind goes blank while presenting?

It can help to know the mistakes that most speakers make when their minds go blank, so that you can avoid them.

Don’t panic and rush your words

You’re thinking, “easier said than done!” And it’s true. Someone telling you not to panic isn’t especially helpful. But if you consciously focus on it, you can stop yourself from rushing. In your practise sessions, if you forget where you’re at in your presentation, don’t check your script straight away or restart. Pause, and when you go to speak, intentionally slow down.

Remember that the few seconds you pause for feel like they’re a lot longer for you. To your audience, it seems like you’re just taking your time and not rushing.

Don’t apologise

Resist the urge to say sorry multiple times. There’s nothing wrong with being honest with your audience or saying you need to check your notes, and in some scenarios, this can enhance connection. But apologising can draw attention to the mistake and make you panic more.

Don’t make yourself small

When you feel nervous, it’s likely to show in your body language. You might hunch, pace, or shift your weight from side to side. The issue is that this kind of body language reinforces your nerves because it tells your brain that you’re in danger.

Instead, try using positive body language to give yourself confidence- stand with your feet firmly on the floor, shoulder width apart, and your sternum lifted.

How to stop your mind going blank when presenting?

Let’s go through how you can avoid blanking altogether. Keep in mind that blanking may still happen, as it’s simply a response to feeling under pressure – but these methods can help you to stay on track and feel more confident going in to your presentation.

Prepare key points instead of memorising a script

You might be tempted to memorise a script from start-to-finish, and whilst this can work for some people, it can make the situation worse if you experience a mind blank. This is because the moment you forget one word, you can lose your flow completely.

Instead, try condensing your script into bullet points. This can reduce the chance of blanking out as you’re not relying on getting through the script word-for-word. Practising with keywords allows more natural speech and adaptability as you go.

That being said, memorising your opening sentences can build your confidence, as you’re setting yourself up for a strong start. Once you’ve got through the introduction, you might find your body starts to relax as you get into the flow.

Practise aloud

Some people find that they blank out despite practising lots, and this is likely because your stress levels are higher when you’re actually giving your presentation.

To help you to become comfortable with speaking out loud, try to practise in a situation closer to what you’ll be experiencing when you give your presentation. You can do this by:

• Practising in front of friends, family or colleagues, and asking them to act in the same way you expect your audience to, including asking you difficult questions.
• Going to the room you’ll be presenting in before anyone else gets there to test the vocal impact you need, and get an idea of how it’ll feel to present.
• Attending groups like Toastmasters, where you can practise in front of a friendly community and receive feedback.

Even if you’re doubtful about practising, remember that underpreparing can increase your nerves and the likelihood of blanking out. Practising out loud can also help to strengthen your overall public speaking skills.

Create a clear presentation structure

It’s easy to lose your place if your presentation doesn’t have a clear structure. Each point should build on the next, so that it makes sense to your audience, and so that it flows naturally in your mind as you present it. Consider using storytelling as a structure for your presentation – this will help you to engage your audience as much as it will give you confidence in how you’re presenting your ideas.

How to prepare your mind before your next presentation?

What else can you do to set yourself up for success when giving a presentation?

Release tension

As we’ve discussed, stress and anxiety are the primary reasons why mind blanks happen. So, releasing tension before your presentation can help you to relax into it.

One way we suggest doing this is through an exercise we call The Bunny Activity. It’s clinically proven to reduce stress and help you to feel positively energised, and it only takes a few minutes. You can find out how to do it in our blog on giving presentations with less anxiety.

Accept that small mistakes are normal

Most speakers are hard on themselves for mistakes. They see it as a form of failure. The truth is, even experienced presenters make mistakes or have mind blanks. They just know how to recover from them.

Let go of the perfectionism and plan ahead for how you’ll recover from things like rushing your speech or forgetting what you were going to say. Imagine yourself slowing down, breathing, and then carrying on, and remember that your audience are just as human as you are. If they’ve delivered presentations, they’ve probably had the exact same thing happen to them before.

Become the kind of presenter you look up to with training from Body Talk

People often think you’re either “a presenter” or you’re not – that confidence giving presentations is something you’re born with. The opposite is true.

A lot of the presenters you admire started exactly where you are now. Our own founder at Body Talk, Richard Newman – who is now a global keynote speaker – often talks about how communication skills didn’t come to him naturally.

Because presentations are something you’re expected to just know how to do, people often become discouraged when they struggle with them. But with the right training, anyone can become a strong presenter.

When you partner with Body Talk, you or your team can learn to:

• Engage the room with six essential body language techniques used by world-class speakers.
• Ignite your voice with advanced tools from actors and broadcasters. Whether you’re online or in the room, you’ll speak with clarity, energy and impact.
• Create irresistible messages using the GRID method, a proven system for storytelling, structure and persuasion.
• Handle any question with confidence using our ECPC technique.
• Master the art of influence by tapping into the psychology behind great advertising. Learn how the best brands persuade, and make it your own.

Book a presentation skills training course today.

Frequently asked questions

Let’s go through some of the most common questions we get on why your mind goes blank during presentations.

Why does my mind go blank when I speak in public?

Your mind goes blank when you speak in public because you’re experiencing a stress response. As we’ve discussed in this blog, there are four main causes:

• Your working memory only has a limited capacity, and it has to hold on to a lot during a presentation. With the added pressure of wanting to impress your audience, it can become more difficult to recall your speech.
• When you feel like you’re not in control of a situation, the part of your brain that you need to access your working memory – your prefrontal cortex – can go “off-line.”
• You may also be experiencing a fight, flight, or freeze response, which can happen when your brain interprets your fear around public speaking to mean that you’re in real danger.
• You may be overthinking things like how the audience is perceiving you, which makes it harder for you to relax and get into the flow of your presentation.

Is it normal for your mind to go blank during a presentation?

Yes, it’s normal for your mind to go blank during a presentation and it happens because you feel under pressure. It’s important not to see this as a personal failing – most speakers experience it at one point or another. The key is to know what to do if it does happen. The best course of action is usually to simply pause and let the words come back to you, instead of panicking and rushing to fill the silence.

How can I stay calm when I forget what I’m saying?

To stay calm when you forget what you’re saying, slow down and centre yourself. You might find that the longer you can’t remember what you were going to say, the more you start to panic – so try and think in the opposite way. Focus on feeling calm, take a breath, and tell yourself that you can take your time.