Article: Unlike written text, oral speech can't be "re-read" once you say something, it's been said, and your speech continues whether your audience understood it or not. To minimize the chance for misunderstanding and keep your audience's attention throughout your speech, keep your words simple. Use clear, concrete language. Don't make your sentences (or the entire speech) any longer than it needs to be to communicate the points you're trying to get across. People are much more likely to have a favorable impression of a short, simple, powerful speech than they are of a long-winded, complicated, and meandering one. For long speeches, it may be impractical or even impossible to have every word of your speech memorized. However, even in these cases where having an outline or a copy of the speech handy is a virtual necessity, you'll still want to have all of the main points you intend to address in your speech ready in your head before you begin speaking. Be sure to know what the main points of your speech are, what order they come in, and any key transitions or examples you use. Knowing the outline of your speech ahead of time is useful for multiple reasons. For instance, not only will this prevent certain technical snafus (for instance, a breeze carrying your speech away) from derailing your speech, but it can also help you deliver your speech more confidently. After all, if you know basically what you need to say ahead of time, what need is there to worry? Mediocre speeches are a dime a dozen. Make your speech memorable by making it something only you could deliver. Craft your speech into a product of your own personality give your audience opportunities not just to remember the speech itself, but also the person giving it. One easy way to do this is to include brief, memorable personal anecdotes in your speech that are pertinent to the honor you're receiving or the themes you're addressing in your speech. Include these as you please, but don't forget to exercise restraint remember, short and simple speeches are blessings to most people in the audience. Humor has a place in some acceptance speeches. A witty remark is a great way to break the ice at the beginning of a speech and a few jokes peppered throughout can help keep the audience's attention. However, keep the amount (and type) of humor you use under control. Don't rely too excessively on constant joking and don't include lewd, offensive, or controversial jokes. Unless you're a professional entertainer, your audience probably expects a pleasant, dignified speech, rather than a raunchy, joke-filled tirade, so give it what it wants. Also, don't forget that there may be people in the audience who were in the running for the honor you ended up receiving. Because of this, you won't want to demean the organization that's honoring you or jokingly imply that you were a bad choice. Maintain respect for yourself, the organization honoring you, and the audience as you accept your award. Like writing, singing, or acting, speech-giving is an art form. The more you do it, the better you become. Though it's impossible to replicate the experience of standing in front of your audience and giving your speech for real before you actually have to do it, practicing alone or in front of a smaller audience can help you memorize the main points of your speech and get enough experience delivering it that it becomes familiar to you. In addition, practice can also help you pin down problems ahead of time. For instance, if there's part of your speech that your test audience doesn't react as well to as you thought it would, you may take this as a sign that it should be removed or edited before the actual speech. As you practice, time yourself. You may be surprised how much longer (or shorter) your speech is than you thought it would be. If you have a hard time limit for your speech, use the results of your timed practice to edit your speech as necessary. If you're using a written copy of your speech or an outline to keep you on-track, be sure to edit this aid both for its factual accuracy and for proper conventions of grammar, spelling, and sentence flow. One of the absolute most-embarrassing places you can discover an error in your speech is on the podium while you're delivering it, so avoid this awkward situation by thoroughly proofreading your first draft at least once or twice before your speech.
Question: What is a summary of what this article is about?
Keep things simple. Aim to have at least the basic gist of your speech memorized. Make your speech your own. Keep any humor short and dignified. Practice, practice, practice. Proofread for technical errors.

A hectic schedule can make volunteering seem intimidating, but you really only need a couple of hours for many volunteer opportunities. For example, you could volunteer at a park or beach clean-up, spend a few hours organizing cans at a food pantry, or spend a weekend working on a habitat house. VolunteerMatch.org, Idealist.org, and HandsOn Network are all good websites to search for volunteer opportunities in your area. When political campaigns are going on, you can volunteer your time to support a local candidate in an election. All campaigns need people to man the phones and help others register to vote. A lot of volunteering organizations aren't going to be picky about how much time you give them. They will appreciate a few hours here and there if you're doing good work. Going back week after week is the best way to get invested in a cause and build relationships with those you are working for and serving. Search online sites like Volunteer Match for recurring tutoring gigs, teaching fellowships, or fundraising positions at local and national organizations. Choose volunteer jobs that take advantage of your talents. For example, if you're musical, you could sing or play at nursing homes. With sports skills, you can coach a sport on a volunteer basis, perhaps working with special needs kids or underserved communities. Call or email local non-profits, working on issues like poverty, homelessness, or animal welfare in your area, and ask if there are ways you can help. Some national organizations, like the YMCA and the Red Cross, consistently need volunteers and are great places to engage with your community. On top of being a great way to give back, volunteering can also give you invaluable experience working in a field or cause you're excited about. Volunteering can also be a good way to see if certain career paths would be a good fit for you. Volunteering in hospitals, for example, could help you decide whether you might in the future want to pursue medicine. It is possible to spend 1-2 years working full-time in a volunteer position. These kinds of positions allow you to make a more sustainable impact on people than once-a-week volunteering jobs. In the Peace Corps, volunteers spend two years in another country, working on a specific sector of development, like education, health, or agriculture. Teach for America is a well recognized volunteer organization in the US, where volunteers spend two years working as teachers in public schools and receive teacher training. To make an impact on a place that is sustainable, it is important to do your research, work with a quality organization, and spend time getting to know a place before you jump in to help. Be wary of "voluntourism," or going to other countries for short periods of time to serve, which sometimes does more harm than good.
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One-sentence summary --
Find sporadic volunteer opportunities if you have a busy schedule. Find recurring volunteer positions to give back to your community. Inquire about volunteer positions at local non-profits. Serve in a full-time volunteer position, like the Peace Corps.