One of the best ways to over come the nervousness of speaking publicly is to thoroughly know your topic. After all, this is primarily what your lecturer or tutor will be looking for. You will have to know your topic well enough to inform, debate, instruct or present an opinion - whatever the purpose of your presentation is.

Just as in planning any assignment, you will need to work to a timeline based on a process similar to that for Essay Writing. For oral presentations you will also have to allow for practice at delivering and demonstrating your content knowledge.