Everyone gets nervous delivering a speech, some people run better off the adrenaline and some people dissolve into a trembling mess. Those who get overly nervous can end up being too serious or lose track of where they are up to fairly quickly. Take our wedding speech advice into consideration and it should help to take the edge off.
Keep it simple
If you are a nervous public speaker, don’t try to run before you can walk. Crack a joke but don’t try too hard. Don’t hang too heavily on the punchline when your delivery isn’t guaranteed to land.
Tell a story
Speech advice 101: you’re making a speech, not a toast so your audience is expecting something more. If you are delivering a wedding speech, you are most probably going to want to share some anecdotes and happy memories. When writing your speech think of the journey you want to take your audience on and what the key messages you want to convey are.
Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse
The more practice you get in, the better the delivery. You’ll know when your jokes are coming up and how you want them to land. If you are nervous, you will be counting on your memory to help you get everything out as you try to maintain a calm and composed exterior.
The more of your speech you can deliver without having to look at your notes the better. However, do keep some notes handy should you need a gentle reminder of what on earth you’re talking about.
Be yourself
You are only going to deliver this speech once so enjoy it, be yourself and let your personality shine through. You are delivering this speech because of your relationship to the newlyweds, not because you’re being lined up for a future presenter. Nobody’s perfect and delivering a flawless speech is tough. As long as you get your message across, be it a little nervously, everyone is sure to love it.
The toast
Finally, the toast! Don’t rush to sit down but rather, invite everyone to join you in raising a glass to the happy couple as you round off your speech.
