How to write a wedding speech is easier than you think. You’re under a lot of self-inflicted pressure so it’s natural to be nervous. But, all that delivering memorable wedding speeches takes is a little preparation.
Follow these 7 steps and you’re sure to nail that wedding speech.
Timing is everything
The easiest way to screw up a speech or wedding toast is to leave things until the last minute. Even if you have a pretty good idea of what you want to say in your head, skipping the process of writing it down and practicing pretty much ensures that you’re going to miss a few key points, struggle to get words out of your mouth, or completely bomb that joke you were planning on.
How to write a good wedding speech starts with giving yourself the chance to succeed. Follow this advice for any business speech, wedding toast, or even use it as your personal groom speech guide.
Start With Structure
When you picture the best wedding speeches you almost certainly picture those emotionally charged and insightful speeches you see in the movies. None of them start the way they finish.
Grab a pen and paper – not your laptop, people learn differently and have better recall when they physically write things – and write down the main points you want to get across, and in the order, you want to say them.
Fill In The Blanks
Now that you have a solid idea of your pain points, it’s time to figure out what to say in a wedding speech. Start by deciding what you want your tone to be.
Are you going to be serious, funny, a little bit of both? Once you have your decision think of a few anecdotes that you can include. These are especially important tips of maid of honor speech since you’re expected to deliver something highly personal. A story about how you met or triumphed in the face of adversity as children always wins the crowd over. Or, if you’re planning on going the funny route, something (not overly embarassing or about past relationships) awkward about the groom are always wedding toast ideas. Many speakers also include a famous quote or romantic poem. This is highly recommended.
KISS
There are many speeches delivered at weddings so it’s important not to take up too much time. Beyond the consideration of other speakers, a speech that runs too long often loses the attention of your audience. Keep your points punchy and always make sure not to carry on too long with any topic so that everyone stays engaged. Short wedding speeches that everyone pays attention and that each word is meaningful.
Tell A Story
With your points and anecdotes firmly intact, the next wedding speech tips involve stitching it all together. A great structure for this is:
• Thank the couple and their family.
• Explain how you met the bride and/or groom, or your relationship to them
• Work out your points in chronological order
• Tell your jokes or anecdotes
• Finish with your well-thought-out well wishes, ask everyone to raise their glasses.
Practice Makes Perfect
How to give a wedding speech is 50% what you say and 50% how you say it. Since you’ve written everything down by hand, you’ll have a lot of your speech already committed to memory but you still have to work on the delivery. Stand in front of a mirror and start reading. Work on your pacing, your pauses, your gestures, and your posture. Also, make sure that you’re pacing around at least a little so that you have the chance to look everyone in the eye from time to time. Just make sure that you’re eye contact is a little more generous with the happy couple.
Extra Tips
With the above advice, writing a wedding speech is the easy part. It’s the delivery that people often misstep. The most common reason for this is too much alcohol. You may view yourself as quite charming after a couple of drinks but in reality you’re going to talk too loud or too quiet, you’ll be forgetful, and you’ll slur your words.
If you have a speech to deliver, save the heavy drinking until after you’re done.
Also, don’t joke about past relationships, being surprised that the couple made it, or really anything about the bride …it’s ok to joke about the groom though.
Conclusion
Time, structure, personalization, keep it simple, and practice. That’s all it really takes. We’d wish you luck but if you follow our wedding speech advice, you won’t need it.
