Wedding Speeches – 5 tips to make them great!

Step 1.

Great wedding speeches begin with great planning! Start by thinking about your friend or family member and write down (or talk into your phone’s recording device) everything you can think of to describe them and what they mean to you.

You might have some lovely memories that you could share – how you met, what you’ve got up to over the years, any funny stories that you can relay. (Remember here that you have a varied audience on the day – mixed ages and close family members too, many that you might not know well. Keep these memories and stories appropriate for the event! This too can make or break your speech!)

Step 2.

Now think of a beginning, middle and end to your speech. Where should each story lie? It doesn’t have to be linear, following a ‘life story’, but it should have a structure. Begin to write up your ideas into a document that can be amended easily as you draft and redraft.

Step 3.

Now that you have drafted your speech – read it aloud! You might want to be alone here – find a time when there’s no one around and get used to the sound of your voice! Stand in front of the mirror and do the same thing – this gets you used to talking whilst ‘someone’ is watching!

Great wedding speeches need practice. You won’t want to practise with your head down then, on the day, look up and see lots of eyes on you – it’s the best way to feel panic on the day! To practise delivering your speech, look into the mirror as you read and look up! Get used the words and read through it lots of times.

When you read the script often you begin to remember what comes first and what follows. Then you can amend it as you go, seeing and hearing things you can change and improve on. You don’t need to know it off by heart on the day, but you do need to know it inside and out!

Step 4.

When you know it well, put the bullet points onto cards and practise some more using just the cards. Again, there’s nothing worse than being at an event where someone reads a scripted speech and doesn’t lift their head to the audience. Guests want to be included!

Now, think of your audience. What do they want to see? Do they want you to be nervous or do they want to enjoy the speech without worrying for you? Put yourself in their shoes. This is key!! Think of events that you’ve been to when someone has presented and remember what YOU were thinking at the time. Did you want them to fail or were you willing them to do well? Anyone at an event wants to be entertained and to enjoy the speeches. No-one wants to see someone fail! Practise a lot – think of what you want the audience to feel and keep them at the forefront of your mind!

Step 5.

Now is the time to video your speech (again with no one to distract you!) Play it back. What do you look like? What do you sound like? Doesn’t it feel odd to hear the sound of your own voice and to see what you look like to others? At this point many people will run for the hills and not want to carry on! But remember, your friend or family member CHOSE YOU! They know you well! Do you think they would have asked you if they thought you weren’t able for the job? Of course not! They KNOW you can do it and so should you!

Practise, practise, practise. This is one thing NOT to leave to the last minute. You’ll be bored listening to the speech and probably think it’s not funny anymore – but the guests hearing it for the first time will love it!! Honestly!

On the day.

Have the cards handy and go over everything one last time, on your own with no distractions. Don’t have too much to drink beforehand – it definitely won’t help – you want to be focused on your loved ones and the faith they have in you.

Finally – deliver those wedding speeches with aplomb!

You’ll deliver a great speech on the day! Love hearing the applause and soak up the comments afterwards. You deserve it!! Don’t forget – you’ll think that other people you’ve seen have a talent for this and that you don’t but no-one is able to do this without writing carefully and practising. Those people who present well have also practised. They just won’t have told you that. Nothing that looks easy has come without hard work, preparation and sweat. It’s the practice that counts and, if you put the effort in, it will pay off in spades!!

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