What to Consider When Writing a Wedding Speech
When it comes to writing your speech or toast for a wedding, you will definitely want to know the etiquette basics for giving the speech. Here are 10 tips for giving a great wedding speech:
1. Develop a plan and imagine objectives & potential outcomes.
There is nothing worse than not knowing what you want to get out of giving your speech during a wedding. Do you want to be funny, thank the caterers or touch the emotions of your guests? That is why before you actually say or write anything you have to work out what you want to achieve first. It helps when it comes down to visualizing what you are going to say.
2. Have a formalized structure, such as a beginning, middle and end.
Listeners love to hear a structured speech and the best speeches stick to this rule. You have to have a welcome in a wedding speech; especially acknowledging those who have traveled a long way to be at the wedding. You must also have three personal stories to go with it such as how you met your wife for the middle and an end such as thanking and toasting the bridesmaids.
Here is an example of the speech structure:
Greeting/Welcome where you acknowledge special guest
Personal Story #1 how you met
Personal Story #2 most memorable moment together and why it was memorable
Personal Story #3 funny habits and why you love him/her
Something nice about the future of the couple
Call to action: Toast Bridesmaids etc.
3. Avoid saying too much.
You are going to want to keep your speech simple. Keep your speech short at a wedding, between 5 and 7 minutes. Anything longer and your speech will be too long winded and you will bore your listeners.
4. Keep it Positive.
Keep the content of your speech on a positive note and avoid making any negative comments about previous wives or girlfriends or other black sheep family members. Remember it is supposed to be a celebration which is not the right time to air your dirty laundry.
5. Research your speech using personal stories.
Personal stories help you to connect with your audience in a more meaningful way. You are going to want to reflect on three different events that demonstrate how much your care for and love the couple. Such things are always welcome.
6. Keep the personal stories short. Its not about you!
Keep these personal anecdotes very short and use them to demonstrate a point, but not as the focus of the speech. Try and take people to your special moment in time by describing the place, situation and even what time of day and what the weather was like if you can remember it. This is always good because it lets the audience visualize the moment.
7. Have a strong opening and closing.
People remember the opening in a speech they hear and it is what will decide if you will be heard or ignored. The closing is important because it should reinforce the key message you want the audience to go away with in their head after they have heard the entire speech. Ending with some sort of call to action can be a powerful way to get your audience to act on your message. In the wedding speech the call to action is easy. All that you have to do is ask people to stand, then charge their glasses and toast the bridesmaids.
8. Avoid alcohol until after the speech.
You need to be alert if you are going to make a good and lasting speech. Save the alcoholic celebrations until after your speech so that you dont say or do anything silly.
9. Keep eye contact and use simple notes for recall.
Use index cards with key points if you are planning to make a longer speech. Avoid reading it directly and keep eye contact with your audience as much as possible because it shows that you are being sincere.
10. Practice and Rehearse.
Practice the speech or at least get some feedback from someone you trust beforehand. Recording and listening back to a presentation is the fastest way to improve your speaking skills, check for inconsistencies and to help you memorize it better.
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