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How To Deliver That
Perfect Wedding Speech - Preparation,
Preparation, Preparation!
The best way to ensure that your wedding is a
success is lots of good preparation.
This means you have to prepare for any
speaches or toasts well in advance. Many people
consider this to be a waste of time and come up
with a list of reasons why not to do it.
Here's just a few...
- "I'll just stand up and say a few
words on the day...it'll be ok!"
- "It can't be all that complicated to
give a quick speech..."
- "I don't have the confidence, I'm
all nerves! I can't do it."
- "I'm not a good speaker, I wouldn't
know what to say."
- "Let's just see what happens, I have
far too many other things to think about
right now!"
The bad news is - excuses like those
can ruin your day - guaranteed!
Speeches at weddings are very often
overlooked, not thought out or planned, and very
often poorly exercised. To not plan what you will
say to your friends and loved ones is perhaps the
worse thing you could ever do. Why?
Well, it can literally make or break the
brides memories of the day - one slip of the
tongue or mis-interpreted comment can linger in
her memory for far longer than all the rest of
the days events put together. Especially if the
poor comment came from a close family relative.
Did you ever think of that?
And all the other planning
and preparation that went into the day could
be ruined if the bride or groom are left to live
with the memory of a poor remark - even if it was
accidental!
So it is crucial that you get it right, and
you get it right now!
One of the best ways to achieve this is by
establishing an order of speaking. Just as a
wedding coordinator would establish what happens
and when, you will do the same with speeches or
toasts. If you do decide to use a wedding
coordinator and they're willing to organise your
speeches for you - check with them to see if they
have any experience. So remember - to achieve the
best result, make sure that you check everything
well in advance.
Allocate a 'Master of Ceremonies'. This person
will be the one who introduces each speaker in
turn and will be responsible for establishing the
order of running and order over the audience - to
keep them quiet at the right times etc.
Anyone can make a speech, but the most
important people to include are:
- The Bride
- The Groom
- The Best Man
- The Brides parents
- The Grooms parents
- Any of the Brides family members
- Any of the Grooms family members
There is no forced order of who will do what
and when.
If you have no coordinator or they have no
experience, you could always ask for help at your
local speakers club. There are many of them all
over the country and each one will be able to
help organise your big day.
Make sure each speaker is 100 percent
clear on...
- What they will say
- When they will say it
- Who is before and/or after them
- If they are to give a toast at the end,
or simply say thank you / good luck /
best wishes
- What other speakers will be saying - you
don't want too much duplication between
speeches as it lessens the impact the
more something is said
Leading Up To The
Wedding...
Here are a few useful tips for you...
Do Practice, Practice, Practice...
Practice anywhere you can! Anytime you can.
Live and breath your speech 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Drill it onto your brain until it
sticks forever.
Practice using a Dictaphone for timing
purposes and to spot stray 'ums' and 'ers'
Practice in the bath for different acoustics
and to amuse yourself and other family members!
Practice in the car. Practice when you're
stopped at the lights to amuse other drivers!
Practice with full notes, partial notes and
ad-lib - the art of saying as much as you can
without any notes whatsoever.
Do...
Let every speaker check out the room where you
are going to speak - this is so you all know how
loud you will have to be in order to project your
voice to every listener. In fact, speak to the
invisible row behind the last row - this always
does the trick! The other thing to watch out for
is potential obstructions - any pillars, screens
or odd corners can leave your audience straining
to look at you. If there's really nothing you can
do then make a quick joke especially for those
people who can't see you properly - it will be
appreciated.
Be personal. Mention names, dates, locations
and feelings of any shared experiences with the
bride or groom. This has the potential to
be very powerful and emotional if you leave the
humour to one side for a minute. Keep it
meaningful and to the point. Pause for effect
after any praising or shared
experience. This will give far more impact
to your words and hopefully warm your audience
right in their heart.
Imagine your audience naked! - this will put a
smile on your face and allow you to have more
fun. Tell them this secret for a few laughs.
Make the best use of the internet to plan
everything in detail. Make sure you visit www.weddings-and-brides.co.uk
for loads of useful wedding information.
Tell them embarrassing things about yourself
or a close friend - your audience will always
find this funny.
Practice your speech as many times as
possible. Did I mention that you should practice
already? YES!
Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse!
Rehearse the order of events with others. If
possible and appropriate, try to bring everyone
together who will be speaking. Tell them what
will be happening and when - avoid the temptation
to ask them as this often leads to confusion - be
firm!
Rehearse each person standing up, giving their
speech (it can be one line in rehearsals),
sitting back down and going to the next. You will
wonder how you would ever cope without doing this
step!
Rehearse at your local speakers club. Find a
club near you and rehearse all of your speeches.
They will be more than willing to help you and
can give valuable tips on how to improve. They
will also be the ones who give you your first
round of applause - this is the most encouraging
thing in the world when you're a bundle of
nerves.
On The Day Of The
Wedding
Use these tips, and you'll find that there's
less to worry about. You'll always manage to
worry about something, but the more organised you
are, the less worry you should have (in theory!).
Don't...
Drink alcohol. You will look like death if you
have a hangover and the performance of your
speech will deteriorate. Let your body recover
for at least 48 hours beforehand. The other
reason is due to the fact that it can contract
your throat and also hinder your concentration.
If you must have one for nerves or confidence -
make sure it is only one. You don't want to make
a fool out of yourself.
Eat a big meal before your speech. The reason
for this is because when your body is processing
food, lots of blood moves to your stomach.
Leaving little behind to run the old brain. This
may seem amusing, yet it is a proven fact. Your
ability to concentrate depends on how well your
brain is working. This is the same reason as why
you shouldn't drink. Have a light breakfast,
perhaps cereal or fruit. After that, only eat
fruit if you become peckish. This will give you
more energy and improve the sharpness of your
thoughts.
Ramble on for too long - keep it within the 5
to 10 minute mark. Try not to make it last until
you begin to hear lots of heads banging on the
table due to boredom or sleep! Keep it short and
punchy - everyone will appreciate it. Especially
if there's food waiting.
Try to be funny. Don't try to be a comedian
reciting one-liners, instead give lots of amusing
anecdotes to liven people up. Be ready for
laughter, but don't force it if you aren't
comfortable.
Do...
Script in the pauses of your speech. A speech
delivered with correct pauses is twice as likely
to be remembered than one that has none. The
added benefit is that you will also appear ten
times more professional with good pauses for
effect. It makes a seriously big difference! The
best speakers in the world use pauses for maximum
effect and impact.
Smile, have fun, be confident. Here's some
good advice if you aren't feeling confident -
fake it until you make it! Pretend you are
confident and your audience will believe it and
no-one will notice you're pretending except you.
You may be surprised how easily this works.
Try it... it works!
Remember that you're not taking an exam -
you're talking to your friends and family. They
should be the best audience you'll have in your
life! Every person is on your
side
Breath deeply! Out of all the tips that are on
this page, this has to be the most
important, simply due to the many number
of advantages it brings.
It helps to:
- Calm your entire body and nervous system
- breath deeply outside if it's
convenient for better quality air
- Allow more oxygen into your lungs to help
with projection of your voice and
increases the number of words you can say
without pausing for breath
- Allow more oxygen into your brain to
improve concentration and ability
Remember that waiting for your turn is likely
to make you more nervous - more so than the
actual speech itself. So make sure you calm
yourself as best you can with lots of deep
breaths.
A Final Word - Using
Notes
Should you use notes? If so, what kind do you
use? How much?
This is a very tricky subject and
unfortunately there's no correct answer. It
depends entirely on how well you know your speech
and how well you can use notes.
The main thing to avoid is writing EVERYTHING
out in full. This is a big mistake as it's
obvious to the audience and you can easily get
lost with too much writing.
If you do decide to use notes then...
- KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid! Keep notes
to a useable minimum.
- Don't include too many phrases - a note
like LAMP-POST is a far better note to
leading you onto the subject of the stag
do than a note saying "everyone
grabbed the groom and ..."
- Print them on card in big, eligible fonts
(Times Roman is easy to read) using a
computer.
- Number each note (like bullet points) and
follow the numbers with your finger as
you read if you need to..
- Number each page - i.e. page 1/7, 2/7,
3/7 and so on. If your notes are dropped
it should only take a couple of seconds
to put them back in order.
- Be ready for interruptions at any point!
You will definitely impress your audience
when you are confident to mention a -
baby crying, sudden door slam, rude
noises from chairs etc. Make sure you
remember where you're up to in your
speech, make a pleasant joke out of the
interruption and carry on after the
laughter. This is very impressive and
very professional.
If you decide to go without notes
then...
I hope you know what I'm about to say. The
answer to delivering a good speech without use of
notes is ... practice! Perhaps you could buy
yourself a Dictaphone to help analyse and time
your speech.
You can also practice at your local speakers
club. Here you will receive plenty of
feedback and human interactions - far more than
any electronic Dictaphone! It also helps give you
that 'outsiders' point of view. Practicing in
front of family or friends is alright for a
while, as long as you remember that they're not
trained speakers and don't know what to look for
and how to suggest improvements. The practice
will definitely pay off when you've practiced
in a professional environment.
The Association
of Speakers Clubs (ASC) have clubs all across
the UK and offer a high level of training and
support. It's a one-stop place to help anyone of
any age or sex give better speeches for all
occasions. They offer you bags of encouragement
and applause. Most of our members began with no
previous knowledge whatsoever and they know what
it feels like to be give that first nervous
speech! Once the initial fear of going to a club
has been overcome, the friendly atmosphere will
guarantee a good performance on the big day of
your wedding.
This article is in
association with www.weddings-and-brides.co.uk
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