Colin had researched, outlined, and practiced his speech carefully, but on the day he was to give the speech, his girlfriend broke up with him. He found it impossible to keep his mind on his speech or his audience and continually lost his place. What public speaking term best describes this situation

Public speaking term best describes this situation is psychological noise

Explanation:

In psychology, the term mental noise refers to the psychological interference in the speaker. One form of mental noise is nomadic thoughts, in other words, the speaker is out of focus and his thoughts deviate from what he should focus on.

So here Colin lectured very well, but the day he was about to deliver it, his girlfriend broke up with him. Therefore, he found it impossible to keep his focus on his speech or audience.

We can see Colin focusing on what happened to his girlfriend and staying away from his speech. So it becomes an example of mental sound