Peter now begins to speak. His first point is that he realises that God does not show favouritism. The Jews thought they were special and that they had God on their side in a way that He was not on the side of other peoples. Now they were (and are) special, but not in the way that they thought. When God chose Abraham (Gen 12:1-3) He said that all peoples on earth would be blessed through him. When God blesses you it is in order that other people are then blessed through you, but we often want to hold on to the blessing for ourselves. Peter now realised that God's plan of salvation was not just for Israel, but for the whole world.
It then becomes apparent that news of what Jesus had done had spread around, and people like Cornelius would be aware of it. Peter quickly summarises events. Note the emphasis on Jesus doing good and freeing those who were under the power of the devil.
Then Peter describes the events of the cross and resurrection, pointing out that there were ample witnesses to the resurrection, and that it was real, not some mere "spiritual" event. Now they had the job of preaching the gospel to the world.
While Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit came down on the hearers and they started speaking in tongues and praising God. God did things this way to demonstrate beyond all doubt that the Gentile believers were full members of His kingdom. This was done for their benefit, and for Peter's benefit. Then the people were baptised.
As an aside, the incident is a reminder that we should not get too hung up about the particular order of baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit.
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