engage your audience. What I found with English speeches at school was that the marker focused more on the delivery, rather than the actual content. My prelim speech was dodgy but I presented it reasonably well and got 18/20, hardly any techniques put into it. That doesn't mean you're going to skimp on the content though, this is the bloody HSC after all! Do not, I repeat DO NOT look only at the marker. It is ridiculous and your audience as a whole will quickly lose interest. Try to scan the room and make eye contact with everyone. Markers will look for this. Don't exaggerate on the hand motions. And the obvious one: voice projection. Starting off with a rhetorical question is going to be fine, perhaps excellent depending on how your thesis goes. One tip that I will suggest to you is to get a camera and record yourself whilst practising delivery. Look for any bad habits such as shifting from one foot to another, putting "uhm"s in, etc. Re: How to present a good speech..? The speech needs to have a structured and logical flow to it. With speeches in High School and in uni, the ones that do poorly often appear disorganised and the ideas are all over the place. With your delivery, as Green Pup look at the whole audience and carry yourself with confidence. As another user (I think mirakon) has said before, the HSC is mostly about attitude and this is especially the case