You can have the greatest topic, be speaking to an enthusiastic audience, have material that this specific audience needs to hear, and be excited about your topic, and yet not be successful.  Why? Because you lack proper preparation. 

Preparation is the single most important part of a successful speech. One of the difficulties with preparation is that it may be hard to determine when you are really ready to speak. Often, when coaching people in their speaking, I will hear, "Well, I thought I was ready, but I wish I had prepared more."

How can you insure proper preparation before you speak?

To keep from being rushed, you must start preparing well in advance of when the presentation is to be delivered. You simply cannot "cram" for a speech. If you start preparing the speech a day or two before you have to deliver it, you are doomed! With significant speeches, you may want to begin preparing several months in advance.

Spend major time mulling over your message to your audience. Read all you can on your topic. Practice on your friends and colleagues some of the material that you plan to include. Ask people what they think about some of the ideas you hope to present. Remember that you can revise up until the time you speak. Keep thinking, "How can I make this better?" All of this takes time.

Probably most critical to preparation is practice time. You need to practice a speech at least three times before you deliver it to your audience. Speak it out loud. Time it. Simulate the speaking situation as much as possible. Find an empty room and stand at the front and deliver it as though you have a full room of people.

After each practice session, take a moment to review what you said. This is one of the best revision times in your preparation. Some of your most creative moments in improving the content will come immediately after practicing aloud. Even if you have delivered the speech before, you need to practice parts of it before every presentation.

Remember, if you do not practice your speech, then your actual presentation is a practice session. You have too much at stake to allow that to happen.

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When to Memorize in a Speech

Memorizing a speech creates many challenges--having a memory block, sounding mechanical in delivery, and lacking rapport with the audience, to name a few. Besides, memorizing a speech simply takes too much time. Thus I recommend: do not memorize a speech!

However, as is the case with most general rules, there are exceptions. That is true about memorization connected to a speech. There are certain parts of a speech that will make you more effective if they are memorized.

Memorize the opening lines of your presentation. This will get you off to a good start. Your language will be specific and concrete to insure that the audience will listen to you. When you get off to a good start, your nervousness lessens and you are on your way to a successful presentation.

Memorize a joke or humorous story you are going to tell. Reading a joke to an audience just does not work. You need to be able to interact with the audience nonverbally as you tell something you hope they think is funny. What you can do with a short piece of material such as a joke is to memorize it and then practice it until it does not sound memorized.

In a persuasive speech, memorize the move to action step. You should know exactly what you want your audience to do as a result of your presentation. In fact, end with "What I want you to do as a result of my presentation is…." Know those words by heart. You will have confidence in your conclusion and will make eye contact with your audience as you deliver this final line.

Sometimes you should memorize transitions. If you have an abrupt change of direction in the middle of your presentation, you might choose to memorize the transition leading to your next point. Thus the audience will receive proper direction and not be confused. For example, in a speech on oral style, I might say, "We must realize that words don’t mean--only people who use them." Each word counts; I would memorize it.

Only under rare circumstances do I recommend memorizing any part of a speech; the above suggestions, however, should make you aware of possibilities for enhancing your effectiveness as a speaker.