Emergency Phrases That Buy Time

When your brain freezes, you need pre-loaded phrases that work on autopilot:

• "That's a great question. Let me think about that for a moment." — buys 10 seconds
• "Can you say more about what you mean?" — redirects and gives you time
• "I want to make sure I address this properly." — signals thoughtfulness
• "Let me come back to that in a moment." — lets you skip and return
• "Here's what I know for certain." — anchors you to facts

Memorize these so they fire automatically when pressure hits. The trick is using them before your brain fully freezes. Wait until you are already blank, and even memorized phrases vanish.