The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Firstly, go through it on your own, until you can finish it on time, and without looking at your notes too often.

Record your speech and listen to yourself; you’ll learn a lot and get several ideas of things to change.

Preparing notes is fine — you don’t have to memorise it.  But, I recommend knowing your talk so well that with just a glance at a list of bullet points you can know what’s next, and then speak directly to your audience on each point.

It’s not critical that you deliver it word for word. What’s more important is the energy of your talk; that you’re connected with and passionate about your topic. Feel free to ad lib, as long as you stay within your time limit.

Once you have your speech ready, prepare a final bullet list of points — these are your notes, just in case you need them.

Invite some trusted friends over to hear your talk, and offer them dinner (even if you just pay for pizza).  When the time comes — above all — let go of your attachment to the outcome!