Hopefully I have made the case for a time budget for a presentation successfully; now I will address what goes into your time budget. How do you prepare what you will say in the introduction, the body, and all elements of your talk? Do you write every word that you are going to say in a talk? Do you prepare flash cards to keep you on track in your presentation? Sometimes, yes; sometimes, no. It is the purpose of this chapter to discuss a variety of speaking situations and how to prepare a talk for them. My objective is to have you, the speaker, adopt a system of preparing talks that works for you. The secrets to an effective presentation are sincerity, truth, and confidence. You must believe in your message, it must contain information that you believe to be correct, and you must have the confidence that you will deliver that message to your audience in a forceful manner. A well-prepared talk will supply the confidence component. This chapter will cover preparing an outline for a talk, writing a talk, and preparing delivery aids.