Tips

I agree with Courtney and Sarina - try not to speak too quickly, even though it's tempting. Also, be sure to pick a topic that you find interesting. The speech won't seem as long if you like what you're talking about.
-Micah

Control your pace; keep it slow. It is a speech to inform, so you do want people to hear what you're saying.
-Courtney

PICK AN INTERESTING TOPIC!!!!! My first topic of the history of computers didn't go over well so pick a topic that people might actually like. Pick a topic before you start to work on it in class so that you can work on a speech not a topic. Also try to make sure that you don't stay up to midnight to finish the speech the night before. This will lead to poor speech quality, fatigue, drowsiness, nausea, loss of appetite, irritability, and misspelling the word history. Topics that went over well: biographies of interesting people, paranormal and the history of an object. Things that didn't do well: the history of the Aztecs, the history of computers, depression, boring people and the history of religions. For the visual aid, a PowerPoint works well or a handout that can be passed along during your speech but be careful if you actually want people to pay attention than you shouldn't do this. The reason: People will focus more on the pictures than you. Practice because this is a long speech which offers a lot of places to make mistakes ans talk s l o w l y. Even though Ms. Bradley tells you to engage the audience really try on this speech because it is hard to do unless you really try.
~David Flicker

. Always talk slower than you normally would. When you enunciate the words it helps people to better understand what you're talking about, and it also helps to prevent stumbles.
-Sarina

One thing I have to say about this speech, is make sure that you know what you are talking about, and practice. The time actually goes by faster when you know what you are talking about.
~Ashley

I think I chose a topic that was a bit difficult to inform people about so I would advise you to chose a topic that you really can inform people about. (i.e. diseases, technology, religion)
- Sue

Choose a topic that will be interesting to you and to your audience, this is a long speech and you want to maintain the audiences attention the whole time.
-Laura

One extremely helpful tip is to highlight the first word of every sentence in your speech, because you can maintain more eye-contact with the audience without losing your place in your speech. Also, make sure you are knowledge in your topic, because it can make your speech more interesting or informative.
~Brook Mehregany

Pick a topic that you can easily and interestingly inform people about. Engage the audience, maintain good eye contact, and be confident and your speech will be a sure success.
-Jenna A.

Make sure that if you want to reach your time limit, to slow down. That's the key to get a good grade, and to reach your goal of whatever time limit you're given.
-Jose B.

As always, pick a topic that interests you. It is really the enthusiasm that makes the speech.
-Katrina

I really agree with Katrina - pick a topic that you are truly passionate about. If you like what you're talking about, you'll be able to engage the audience well, and they'll be interested.
-Micah

Try and use humor to engage the audience....this way, you can even allow a little pause after your good lines to allow the context of the speech to sink in.
-Courtney
Do it on a subject you are familiar with. It will make the project more entertaining for you to write and present.
-Jesse
On the 2nd speech i found that if you chose a speech with a wide range of information it will not be hard to write a long speech. It also makes the speech oodles of fun.
-Jesse
Resources

Noodle Tools works really well for making your bibliography because you can save the bibliography on their servers and not have to email it to yourself.
-David Flicker

I used Medicine Net for my speech on Anorexia. It is a great source for any medical questions that you might have.
~Ashley

I used my OZ SLANG book from Australia and a couple of internet pages about phonetics to confirm the differences in the Australian and American accents.
- Sue

I used the main Baha'i Faith website, because I knew it would have accurate information and could answer any remaining question I had
~Brook Mehregany

I found it helpful when using search engines (researching a person) try typing the name and biography next to it. I found great and reliable sources that way.
i.e. Richard Branson Biography
-Jenna A.

My main source for the speech was The Beatles Anthology - since it all comes from interviews of the members of the band, the information was definitely accurate.
-Micah