How do you give a speech on a fancy dress competition?

This is a highly guarded secret, known only to a few people--roughly 7 billion at last count.

Okay, kidding aside, just talk. There is no magical formula to public speaking. The really big secret is that you do it every day. No, really, you do.

Every time you open your mouth to speak, provided you are not talking to yourself, your imaginary friend, or your favorite teddy bear, as long as one other living and breathing person is present, you are engaging in public speaking. No kidding.

Okay, there is one really big point that you need to address when ever you try to give a speech on any subject--know what you are talking about.

That's it. You can practice it, and as long as you can deliver it without sounding staged or mechanical, you will be successful. Just do your research, pretend you are talking to your best, most trusted friend, and talk.

You can write it as a script, you can make note cards, you can read it from a teleprompter, but if you do not know your subject, you will not do well. Just know your information, and practice.

Once you get that part down, then try to throw in a few tricks or techniques. Worry about those later though.

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I can't write your speech for you -- that would be cheating and if you copied it, it would be plagiarism. Here are some tips on how to write a good speech, though:

1. Do your research and find out as much as you can about your topic:

2. Make a list of the most important points that you learned

3. Write down facts to support those points and convince your audience that your

viewpoint is correct

4. Pretend you are just talking to some friends and write down how you would tell

them this information.

5. Practice your speech by saying it out loud until you know it and are

comfortable saying it