Once a person makes a beracha (blessing) on a food or beverage, they should be sure not to have a hefsek—any kind of interruption or even a delay—after making the beracha and before ingesting the food or drinking the beverage. This means that a person should make sure any food they’re making a beracha on, or any drink they’re about to drink, is ready for them to put immediately into their mouth. If, let’s say, they’re having a fruit like an orange, the orange should be peeled before they’re ready to eat it. They should make the beracha Ha'etz (the tree-fruit blessing) and then first start peeling it. This also applies if there’s a bottle they need to open. If a person is having a hot beverage like tea or coffee, they should make sure it’s at the temperature they want before making the beracha. If they make the beracha and then realize it’s too hot to drink and have to pause for a number of seconds, that creates a delay in having the beracha connected to eating the food. So one should make sure everything is fully ready, so that they make the beracha and then immediately ingest the food or drink the beverage.
However, B'diavad (after the fact), if a person had a silent delay of more than a few seconds but kept their mind focused on the fact that they were between the beracha and the food, they do not have to repeat the beracha; the beracha still counts. If a person spoke between making the beracha and eating the food, then it depends. If they spoke about something unrelated to the act of eating the food, and therefore it would constitute idle chatter, that would be considered a hefsek, and the person would have to make the beracha over again to eat it.
But let’s say the person did speak about something related to the food. For example, they picked up an apple, made Borei Peri Ha'etz (Who creates fruit of the tree), and then looked at it and realized it wasn’t washed. They want to wash it so they can eat it, so they hand it to somebody and say, “Please wash it.” They actually spoke. Of course, if there was just a delay, we’ve already said that B'diavad, that would be okay. But let’s say they said, “Please wash it.” Since it has to do with the act of eating and is involved in eating, they didn’t take their mind off the beracha; B'diavad, it would still be acceptable.