Every time you go to a forge, make sure to talk to the person in charge of it, and buy all the iron ingot and leather or leather strips they are selling. Then, make as many leather strips as it takes for each iron ingot. Take it to the forge, and make an iron dagger that only takes one of each ingredient to create. If you sell it back to the merchant, sell it one at a time so you create more transactions to level up the Speech skill.