Public speaking Tip of the Day: reading your speech should ALWAYS be your last resort. Why do I say this? Because it is really hard to do. It is virtually impossible to read a speech in front of an audience without putting them to sleep. You will not have eye contact or a good conversational flow.
There will be times when you have to read a speech, for example if your boss gives you a speech and tells you to read it word for word or else you would be fired, then you have to read the speech. Or maybe you have been appointed as the new minister at a national bank or the new President of a country and anything you say is being scrutinized greatly because a single wrong word can cause an economy crash or war, then it makes sense to read word for word a speech that has been penned by people carefully so as to not cause any problems.
For everyone else in the world, reading a speech is a bad idea because it virtually tells everyone that you are boring. Instead of getting everything just right, you are essentially destroying eye contact, speed and volume change, emphasis, and pauses.
So do not make the mistake of reading your speech. If you are worried about forgetting something, compile a couple of notes or bullet points to have a road map, but do not read your speech.