Depending on your confidence as a public speaker, being given the honor of speaking at your best friendâs wedding is either a gift or a curse. You should see it as an honor, one bestowed on a very select few of us. Congratulations, you are considered the highest ranking person in the bride or grooms life.
Accept the honor and run with it!
As a wedding DJ I am often one of the last people that toasters (those giving a toast) speak with before their big moment. Iâve had the pleasure of hyping a few up and calming a few down. Over my 15 years as a DJ Iâve DJ Kevin Prepares a Maid of Honor for her Speech | Photo Courtesy Brad Riggio compiled some thoughts on how to give a great speech. I feel now is as good a time as any to share this advice. We are just a month away from wedding season and many speeches are being prepared now. So letâs do this!
The toasts you give is typically the moment we all learn the most about the couple. I love the speeches, they help me get to know them better through you, so too will your audience. For half of the guests, you are responsible for introducing them to the other person, your friend.
Make them look good. Really good. Talk about what you admire most about them. It may be a surprise to them, and theyâll never forget it. Surprise them with never before spoken praise.
**ONE QUICK NOTE BEFORE THE OFFICIAL ADVICE**
9 out of 10 times your speech is one of the last things separating a hungry crowd from a delicious dinner. Keep this in mind while preparing.
KNOW THAT EVERYONE WANTS YOU TO DO WELL
Maid of Honor Speech | photo courtesy Kristen Wynn Photography Iâve been to hundreds of weddings and many, many concerts, plays, and musicals. One common theme: Everyone wants everyone to do his/her best. No one is hoping for your failure, no one wants to see your jokes not land, or for you to embarrass yourself. Quite the opposite. Everyone wants the night to be perfect for the couple. Knowing that you have an audience behind you should calm some nerves.
CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE
Inside jokes are cornerstones of great friendships. We all have things that only we and our friends get, that only we can laugh for hours talking about. There are many times that we can talk about those things. During your maid of honor speech probably isnât the best time. Inside jokes are between the two of you; That doesnât mean you have to exclude them. But they should be limited. I have been through many toasts before hundreds of people with only two people laughing.
CONSIDER WRITING TWO SPEECHES
There should be two speeches: one you deliver at the wedding and one you give to your friend privately, maybe in a letter. My brother-in-law hand wrote a speech to me and delivered it to me before my wedding. I still have it. Thought it was a great idea and I probably would not have wanted that speech to be read aloud to family.
YOU HAVE ALL THE POWER
This is your chance to publicly praise or embarrass the person who could have chosen anyone to speak. Unfortunately, I have seen everything from embarrassing stories that I guarantee the grooms mother did not want to hear, all the way to the discussion of exes (ex boyfriends to ex-spouses đŹ) Remember itâs probably better to give a speech that no one remembers than a cringe worthy diatribe. There have been times that I would have easily expected that this was the last time the bride spoke with her best friend. With great power comes great responsibility. Use it wisely.
ITâS OK TO ROAST YOUR FRIEND.
We all love to laugh. Many of us love to laugh at ourselves, especially when we learn about something we maybe didnât know, or that we all know and have never heard verbalized.
Sheâs always late.
He hates to be wrong.
He is the worst driver.
She hates to lose at Golf.
If they have a quirk or shortcoming that will get laughs, make sure you find a poetic way to tie it in to a compliment or light hearted advice for the person theyâre marrying.
Essentially, this should all tie in to their wedding.
GET STARTED NOW
Do not procrastinate too long on this. Many additions can be added as you approach the big day. But, you absolutely want to have something started as soon as possible. A theme. An Idea. A general understanding of what you want to say. Do speeches at the last minute sometimes work out sometimes? Yes. Would I want to take THAT chance? No. The best advice on this is to open a ânoteâ in your phone right now entitled âspeechâ. Start a list of possible topics, anecdotes, or themes.Continue adding to this list. About a week from the wedding start writing the speech. Rehearse a few days before the wedding. Speak it into the recorder in your phone. Play it back. Do it again.
Youâre going to do very, very well. Make them look good and youâll look good.
Donât google best man speeches and then copy the first joke you seeâŚ.we have all heard that one.
Best of luck!
Kevin Redford, Owner and DJ at Redford DJs of Pittsburgh.