What to do if you lose your place

You're giving a presentation and you've lost your place. The audience is starting to fidget and move around in their seats waiting for you to continue. No matter what you do you can't remember what you're supposed to say next and as the audience gets more impatient you get more flustered. You're sweating profusely and dying of embarrassment and you wish the stage would open up and swallow you whole. Sound familiar? You're definitely not alone, in fact anyone who has ever spoken in public has probably had similar visions of failure.

Here are a few tips to ensure this nightmare doesn't become a reality.

1. Bring notes, but only refer to them if you absolutely have to
2. If you do lose your place, it's ok to acknowledge it. Stay calm and find your place. The sooner you move on, the sooner the audience will too
3. If you make a mistake don't dwell on it - mistakes happen
4. After you finish your presentation go back over the bits that gave you trouble. Practice anything that tripped you up - chances are you won't be stumped by them again