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O.K. This may go without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway. Before you speak to an audience, you need to research your topic — even if you know it like the back of your hand.

Why is researching important?

Quick! Cover the back of your hand. Now describe it in detail without looking. No peeking!
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Are you a natural-born good speaker? Unless you just took to the stage like a fish to water, you more likely to be among the majority of the population that takes to public speaking more like a newborn calf — wobbly at first, but gaining ability through experience.

You don’t need to be born with the gift of eloquence in order to be good at public speaking. Like a lot of skills, public speaking can be learned. And, luckily enough, there are plenty of training opportunities available to you. Here are just a few:
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One of the most common reasons people fear public speaking is that they blank out and forget their entire speech. I remember when I was competing on the speech team in highschool, I did a speech on memory. In the middle of the speech during the competition, I blanked out and ended up saying something stupid like, “And it does this [blanked out, paused] for many reasons.” Arg!

Sometimes it feels like you can practice and practice and practice and when the moment comes that you need to remember your presentation, everything goes blank! However, there are ways that you can fool proof your message so that the parts you actually have to memorize are minimal.

You do this by incorporating triggers into your presentation. These triggers can be things like power point slides, props, and stories that you scatter throughout your speech. What the triggers do is prompt you to talk about the next point in your presentation. The triggers also serve as a trigger to help you remember what to say next.

There are four primary ways to remember your presentation.
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In any presentation, there are basic pieces of information that an audience expects to receive from the presenter. You are the problem solver presenting a solution that will benefit your audience. Even if you are just blessing the newlyweds at your best friend’s wedding, you still have questions that must be answered. These questions are the classic five Ws and an H: who, what, when, where, why and how. Read on to better understand what I mean.

Who

Who is your target audience? What would they like to know about regarding your topic? Do they have any preconceived notions about your material? What are their concerns? Are you addressing the “who” you targeted in your research? When you address the “who” of your message, you are better able to relate with your audience. They will feel like you are speaking directly to them. They will give you their attention because they feel like their needs are being addressed.
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This has got to be the most important question you need to answer when preparing for a speech: Who is your audience? What are their needs? What do they hope to gain by listening to you speak?

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then your sure to fail. Your speech must meet or exceed the needs and expectations of your audience in order to be successful.

If you do know the answer to these questions, then the next steps are much more simple:

* You’ll have an idea of what you will need to cover within your topic, and which points to can skip.

* You’ll have an ideas of how to organize your speech in a logical sequence.

* You’ll have an idea of what your speech needs to be entertaining to this audience.

* You’ll even know what kinds of support materials are appropriate.

Here are list of things you should know about your audience before preparing your talk:

1. What is the age range of your audience?
2. What brings them together as a group?
3. What is educational level of your audience?
4. What level of knowledge about your topic does this audience have?
5. What expectations of your speech will the audience bring?

Do your best to answer these questions and your success is much more likely.