Giving a speech is a major part of every wedding day and can leave those destined to speak feeling a nervous and overwhelmed. Whether you’re a Father of the Bride, Best Man, Groom, or even a Bride, whoever you may be, they can be daunting, but don’t fear, here are 5 tips to absolutely nail your speech with ease!
- Start the planning process early!
Of course, this goes without saying, but don’t leave writing your speech until the last minute! Dedicate time to sit and think about what you want to say, if you are struggling to get started, whenever you get a thought, jot it down and save it for later. Think about the structure of your speech, it can be useful to split your speech into sections and conjure up different ideas for each section. When delivering, notecards can be helpful and keep you straying of piece, keep these concise and make your point. In this case there is no such thing as being too prepared!
- Keep it short and sweet!
Timing plays a huge role in your delivering your speech. The average speech lasts between 7 – 10 minutes, remember this! It’s easy to get carried away and think of lots to say, but if you stray over the 10 minute mark, you can start to lose peoples attention. With that being said think about what you want to say and keep it concise, but don’t rush, it can often be easy to get nervous and rush through but keep calm and pace yourself. You want to keep your audience engaged at all times, with pauses being made up of laughter and heckles.
- Practise makes perfect!
Have a trial run! Enlist family and friends to help you practise your speech in real time, a second set of ears can always be useful. Doing this helps you nail those timings and gives you an opportunity to road test your jokes! This familiarises yourself with your speech, meaning you can reduce into smaller notes and keep yourself on piece. Of course, this won’t measure up to the big day, but it gives you an idea on when to pause for jokes and how conduct your deliverance. You want to be looking up at your audience from time to time and most importantly stand up straight and smile!
- Make it personal and be yourself!
At the end of the day, the speech you are giving is dedicated to the happy couple, so add in personal touches, and address them as often as you can. Don’t try too hard to force the funny, keep in mind it’s not a personal show, you are sharing a personal perspective, that should celebrate both Bride and Groom. You can even use props to make your speech more original, visual aids that are both funny and relevant can make all the difference. At the end of the day, you want your speech to come naturally to you, share memories, make appropriate jokes, and most importantly have fun with it!
- Raise a toast & give thanks!
It’s also good to remember to give thanks, whether this be to the bride and groom, or friends and families for playing their special part in a wonderful celebration. You may even want to distribute some gifts to those lovely people to give a more personal touch. Or even share some laughter and raise a toast! The best speeches end with a toast, and who doesn’t want another excuse to drink another glass of fizz! Make sure to toast to the newlyweds to their new happy life together. Essentially when in doubt, raise a glass!
Hopefully this has given you some idea on how to start that all important speech writing process. Whatever you choose to say, be confident, keep your audience engaged and most importantly make it personal!
Meels – Event Manager