When you are putting together material for your speech, you should consider drawing on four areas: your own experiences, interviews with others, computer databases, and resources found on the Internet. Depending on the topic, one of these sources might provide better information than others; however, it is likely that whether you choose to use your own experiences or interviews with others, computer databases and resources found on the Internet will offer substantive and important additional information.

The Internet is a fast, efficient, and cost-effective means of locating a wealth of research information. You can find information on the Internet by joining an e-mail discussion group or Usenet group, going directly to specific sites, browsing the Net, exploring subject directories, using search or metasearch engines, or, by asking a research question at a research site. In addition, computer databases on nearly every subject provide easy access to collections of information.

When doing research on the Internet, you should define your goals, determine the types of information you need, identify key words, phrases, and subject categories, familiarize yourself with using search engines, use more than one source and search engine, practice netiquette, review your progress, and practice critical thinking. Always evaluate the quality of Internet information on the basis of reliability, authority, currency, objectivity, validity, and your own intuition. Be wary of statements, facts, statistics, or opinions that look exaggerated, sensational, or outside the realm of common sense. Most can be quickly validated using other Internet sites.

Note taking from the Internet often involves simply pressing the Print button and capturing a copy of the information you need. In most cases, this provides you with all the necessary citation or reference information-(author, date, title, sponsoring source, retrieval date, and website address (URL)-and then you can make more specific selection choices-with relevance, importance, and significance-later. The Internet has increased the research burden on those who use it: to pursue the research links that look promising, to evaluate the information discovered, and to reveal sources of information to listeners.

Supporting material forms the main content of every speech. Supporting material includes the following: comparisons, which are similarities between two or more things; contrasts, which point out differences; definitions, which give the meaning of words or phrases; examples, which illustrate points; statistics, which are facts in numerical form; testimony, in which the statements or actions of others are used to give authority to a speech; polls, which indicate what a selected group of people think, feel, or know about a subject; and studies, which are in-depth investigations.

When choosing supporting material for a speech, you should consider which kinds will be appropriate for the audience. To make this choice, consider the audience's level of knowledge and attitude toward your topic, and ask yourself which material will best hold the audience's attention.