The Greatest Hints Available For A Best Man Speech
Your best friend is getting married and you have been asked to be the best man. Maybe you’ve been to a couple weddings before, but you had hit the bar a little too early and pretty much missed whatever the Best Man said. Now here you are, slumped over some index cards or your computer, trying to formulate the golden Best Man speech. What are you supposed to say anyway? Is it supposed to be funny? Sad? Appropriate? A little advice can go a long way when creating a best man speech, or really any speech in general. Although your speech is important, it doesn’t need to be traumatic at all. In fact, it should be fun! You get to be in the limelight for a little, and who knows, maybe get the attention of that cute bridesmaid.
First off, take a deep breath and relax. This speech needs to be from the heart, not formulated and insincere. Get in a good frame of mind. If you can write your speech while you’re relaxed, you can sound more relaxed when you stand up in front of the crowd and maybe feel a little less nervous. You don’t want your speech to resemble a conglomerate of all the messages in the Hallmark aisle at your local grocery store; it needs to be relevant and personal. Avoid giving your speech a rigid structure. You want to avoid sounding like a 5th grader’s first essay paper. Trust in your personality and have some ingenuity, and you can write an original, creative, and memorable speech that the whole audience will never forget.
As for the content of your best man speech, there are a few pretty traditional elements that should be included: the introduction, a lighthearted memory of the Groom, and a sincere toast to the couple. Start off by introducing yourself. Not everyone will know you, and you want to establish your relationship with the groom to avoid any confusion. Your relationship with the groom is a very important topic to touch on, because it ultimately influences the subject matter of your speech. For instance, a friend of the Groom will not have the same message or the same tone as the father of the Groom.
If you want to have a note card with you, that’s fine. However, you should only right key words on it. You don’t want to be reading off your cards like a script. Reading directly from your hands can’t give you the natural kind of speech you want. Practice all you can without a paper aid, that way you can keep it with you as a crutch or in case you blank. Glancing down for a quick reminder is perfectly okay. With enough practice, you will have memorized all the key points you want to hit on. Do you best not memorize it verbatim, however. Try to say it a little different every time. You definitely don’t want to sound rehearsed. Know your speech well, but make it new and exciting for the audience.
Even the best speakers out there get nervous while making a best man speeches. Everyone knows how nerve wracking your situation is, and no one is expecting you to deliver the next “I Had A Dream” speech. If you mess up, don’t sweat it. Most likely the audience wouldn’t even notice. Presenting your speech should be fun, not your worst nightmare.