A Few Tips.....

Whether you are the Best Man, the Father of the Bride or the Groom, your speech will be an important event at the wedding.

The delivery of the speech is an important part of the process however it’s fair to say that presentation isn't everything. Clearly, if you read out volumes of dry text and present endless narrative anecdotes, it’s going to get...... mixed reviews. 

You have to be happy with what you are going to say, and then you must practice how you’re going to say it.
 
Most speakers feel confident when they know the content of their speech is decent.  How would you feel about the prospect of giving a speech to the women’s institute about how women complain too much and shouldn't have the vote anyway.  Assuming you escaped with your life, you'd be sure to thoroughly check the content of any future speech you had to give.

When checking your text ask yourself the following questions:

Is it Appropriate? Could I cause serious offence to anyone?
Is it light hearted? Does it match the occasion and what is expected from me as the Best man or Groom etc?
Does it make me laugh? Would it make a guy who didn't know the couple laugh?

Now..... Assuming you have a spell binding fantastic speech written (which you will if we wrote it) it’s time to try and make it actually work.

Each speaker has his own style.  However, there are some basic rules that will help you.  

Practice, Practice and Practice.  

Whether you have months or weeks until the day, get familiar with the text.  Don’t expect to get it right straight away. The first few times you read it through you may stumble, that's fine you will get better.  
Learn the opening lines and the ending lines of your speech, this will allow you to engage your audience with ease.  
Look out for parts of your speech that are hard to deliver.  If you have a paragraph or sentence that doesn’t feel natural, just change it, make it easier for yourself.  

Pace Yourself.

Here is case in point. Just try and read the funniest part of your speech.
First read it out load as fast as you can. 
Now try and read it very slowly, concentrating on the intonation of the correct words. 
You will find two things, firstly it will sound a lot better when said slowly and secondly it will be easier to say.  

Pause for a laugh.   

A joke must have time to be appreciated.  It’s often referred to as comic timing but this suggests some special skill. Basically give the audience time to laugh. 

Say it like you mean it.  

Don’t get all macho.  No one wants a cold indifferent speech.  It’s a wedding so don’t be afraid to be kind. Whether you’re the father of the bride, the groom or the best man, the audience want to hear good things. Basically, give the people what they want.

 Keep eye contact: 

This is really important but if you place too much emphasis on it, it can become a problem.  Read from your text if you need to and don’t feel bad about it.  Would you rather listen to a well delivered, fluent speech with no eye contact or, a jittery stumbling one, with great eye contact?  The best approach is to practice specific sections when you will look up.  So in a standard joke all the build up can be read, but the punch line should be memorised so you can look up and deliver it with eye contact.  Likewise with the opening and closing lines of your speech. 

Lastly...Drinking. 

My advice is actually to have a drink if you want one.  Know your limits, don’t get plastered or even close, but if you want to take the edge off there’s nothing wrong with that.