Speeches
Speech!
“I…um… well, that is… take my mother-in-law… no, please… take her…” suddenly the room falls silent, a wedding guest proffers a muted cough and you realise as the pause you were hoping to be filled with laughter is instead painfully silent that maybe a little more rehearsing of your seemingly hilarious speech would have been appropriate, and a few tips for speechmaking would have been a life saver! No problem!
- If you don’t deliver humour well whilst speaking publicly, play down this aspect of your speech. Making a joke to a room full of people is much more nerve wracking than telling a quick one in the pub. If in doubt as to your ability to deliver, keep it simple and stick to a few nice, sentimental few words
- Likewise, if you do opt for humour, ensure you’re on safe ground – there’s only one thing worse than making a joke which, whilst hilarious, is horrendously offensive on what will inevitably be an emotional day anyway, and that’s the knowledge that your faux pas is preserved on - your wedding video for all to ridicule over and over and over again!
- Do remember the role your speech should play beyond being entertaining; thank all those involved in planning your day, especially your attendants, and flatter your in-laws a little, whilst inviting all those present to enjoy the day
- Don’t write-out your speech onto a single piece of paper – you’ll have to look up from the page whilst reading it out and this will inevitably lead to a horrible pause as you look down and have to find your place again. Use cue cards instead, and key words such as ‘Thank bridesmaids – Clare, Zoe, Alison – look beautiful, carried out duties admirably’ – then work through each one, breaking up the speech into bite size pieces
- Finally, rehearse… diligently!
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