The only time I've ever used a stand is at open mike sessions or song circles when debuting very recently written songs. I've always prefaced such use with something like, "I just wrote this yesterday, so I don't really have it memorized yet. I'm gonna use this cheat sheet because I'd rather do that than screw it up." It let's the audience know that it is the exception rather than the rule. Even then, I will only do so with my own songs. If I'm going to do someone else's song in public I'll be sure that I have it thoroughly memorized first.

BTW, the best song memorization technique I've ever found is singing-while-driving. I go through the song at home with the lyrics sheets enough times to get it to the point where I'm confident that all the words can at least be dredged up from memory. Then, while driving, I'll sing it until I get stuck, figure out what comes after the sticky point, start over again, get stuck again, etc. By the time I've made the 80 mile round-trip into town and back I've got it down.

Bruce