Before Normalizing:
This takes the starting volume and multiplies it by the chosen amount. Because this happens before normalization it usually only matters for a short time, such as at the start of a song.

Normalization Speed:
When the chosen value is high the volume becomes normalized very quickly. When the chosen value is low the volume becomes normalized very slowly. You can see this in action by swapping the value for Before Normalizing between 15 and 1/15 and watching how long it takes for the shape to return to a reasonable size.
When the normalization speed is set to 0 the volume isn't normalized at all.

Emphasis:
When choosing to emphasize peaks this takes the volume and raises it to the power of the chosen value. When choosing valleys it instead raises the volume to the power of 1 ÷ the chosen value. The only exception is that when you choose peaks 1 or valleys 1 the real value used is 1.5.
This means choosing peaks causes the medium volume cursors to get squeezed together with the low volume cursors, while valleys causes the medium volume cursors to get squeezed together with the high volume cursors.
As far as the visuals go, choosing peaks often leads to many spikes shooting out from the center and valleys often leads to shapes which are circular and flat.