Speaking is much like playing piano or a sports event like gymnastics. It's very important that you perform at the top of your ability in the moment that the audience is watching. Gymnasts practice their routine hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times. Concert pianists practice their pieces hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times before they get up on stage and deliver their performance. So to the question as a speaker, how much should I practice? My answer as much as you can. Every waking moment that you can dedicate to it. Practice hours. Use the web cam on your computer. Record it. At the very very very minimum for this course I require that you do five rehearsals of a speech before you come and bring it to class and give it in front of the class. The first one maybe just reading the speech out loud. The second one, giving it into your web cam. The third one, find a friend, a wife, a husband, someone who listen and give it to them. Look in their eyes. The fourth one, to a group of friends who are characteristic of the audience. The fifth one, maybe to a group of the people who will be in the audience and see what they have to give back. I want you to make sure you speak five times the speech before your first impression to the audience. On another note I often get the question, should I write it out? Should I write down the speech? My answer, yes, write out every word. The only way you're going to get better is by being very aware of what you're saying, of being very clear that you're starting to be able to deliver exactly the speech you plan to give. As you get better and better, as you become more competent in turning written words into a delivered speech, you can relax on this at the beginning. But in the process of learning, write every word out. Write the full speech out. Take that effort and give it five times at least before the big day. Use that web cam. It's your best friend. You