Wedding Speeches - Skills Training
Do you need to give a speech at a wedding? Perhaps you’re the Bride or Groom, or the Best Man. Perhaps you’re the Father or Mother of the Bride or Groom. Whatever your role, though, you’ll want to deliver a powerful speech that you can still enjoy viewing on the wedding video decades in the future.
As founder of Speak For Success International, I’ve trained numerous people to deliver terrific Wedding Speeches with confidence, enthusiasm — and, of course, with humour.
I’ll coach you in wide range of techniques for delivering effective Wedding Speeches. So what are these?
Nervousness & Anxiety
I’ll prepare you to be calm but excited, so that you can deliver a memorable Wedding Speech.
Deep breathing is essential to help reduce butterflies in your tummy. I’ll help you how to get the best out of this.
Nerves aren’t necessarily a bad thing, though. Everyone delivering a speech is a little nervous, and that’s the ideal frame of mind, as it makes your mind sharp and in control.
Your Speech must have :
- An introduction, with three parts
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A body, with between three and five main parts
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A conclusion, with three parts
Audience Analysis
However simple this might seem, it’s important to find out as much as you can about the audience.
You’re likely to have a good deal of knowledge about the people you’re speaking to, but the more you know about them, the better. That will enable you to adjust your speech accordingly — though, to be safe, I’d suggest avoiding subjects like religion, politics and sex.
Enthusiasm
Enthusiasm is always your number one ally for delivering a Wedding Speech. It’s a complex subject, but I’ll show you how to be the enthusiastic speaker that everyone will remember.
Body Language
Body language forms an essential part of everyday conversation, allowing the participants to understand what each other is thinking and feeling. A Wedding Speech is no different, and natural body language will enhance your ability to engage your audience.
Structure & Organisation
Before you start on your speech, you need to have your thoughts and ideas organised in a very simple way, so the audience can follow it easily. Remember, your audience doesn’t know what you have in your head.
Humour
Research shows that 85% of people love humour — so that’s going to include most of your audience.
Even if you’re not actually a comedian, you can raise plenty of laughs with simple stories, examples and occurrences. It’s been said that “Laughter is mankind’s greatest Blessing.”
It’s vital, though, that the humour is in keeping with your personality, otherwise it’s going to come over as fake.
Facilities & Equipment
If possible, check out the wedding venue and practise your speech there, so you can familiarise yourself with the surroundings. This will make you more relaxed when giving the speech.
Knowing how to use a microphone is crucial, since your Wedding Speech might not be heard clearly by the audience without one.
Voice Projection
One of my key pieces of advice to Speakers is that your voice is a great marketing tool. You need effective voice projection and inflection, in order to engage your audience every time.
Speaking Rate, Pronunciation / Pauses
There are three crucial things to remember when delivering a speech — including your Wedding Speech. These are:
- Correct Speaking Rate – Do not speak too quickly
- Pronounce each word accurately and particularly – “ings” at the end of words, as well as making sure you don’t clip sentences.
- PAUSES – Pauses are a powerful tool for audience engagement. Most people avoid pausing, because they’re nervous of being silent for a few seconds. A pause is a highly effective attention grabber.