Research

Anyone who has prepared a term paper has experienced the first phase of speechwriting: library research. Statements made about the topic should be reviewed in order to know what the main arguments are and what raw data are available. In addition to books and periodicals, make sure you check professional or trade journals and government publica­tions for statistics and informed opinions that can lend credence to your presentation. Your own files are also important: You should be able to put your hands quickly on everything your organization's man­agers have written or said on the topic.