Some 50 years ago, roughly speaking, giving a speech was a formal occasion.  The speaker stood behind the podium, read his speech, and received polite applause at the end.  Alternatively, candidates barnstormed around the country, speaking on stumps, or barrels, or whatever would give them a little height advantage so that the crowd could see them.  Hence the term ‘stump speech’ for the one a politician gives over and over on the hustings.  The speaker had to shout to be heard, and the high, nasal voice (such as presidents Lincoln and Coolidge possessed, among others) carried well and often carried the election. 

Television changed all that.  It made the formal familiar, close, and casual.  Now, we expect a conversation.  So, rather than reading the speech, or speaking from extensive notes, speakers are expected to talk from bullet points (good) or a Power Point outline (bad). 

As a result, it pays for the speaker to know the basic logical flow of the speech — not the exact words, but the main points, in order.  Ideally, that’s what a speaker has in his or her head when he/she bounds up on stage and begins to chat with the audience.

So rehearse that.  Get the logic of the speech down in a bulleted outline, and practice that.  Rehearse just running through that outline, as if it were a very brief explanation.  Then, embellish it by adding your supporting facts, your stories, and so on.  Work your way up to the whole speech. 

The result will be a clearer sense of how the speech needs to flow for the comprehension of the audience.  And, rather than reading the speech or slavishly following a dense series of Power Point slides, you can flexibly and confidently work through the outline, knowing where you’re going and where you’re taking the audience.