Public Speaking

Author
Discussion

Matt_N

8,902 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Good job!

Did my first best man's speach in June and have another one to do this Saturday.

The first one went down well so I'm hoping for same again this weekend.

Craphouserat

1,496 posts

201 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Practice, Practice and then practice again. For my wedding speech I'd talk and record myself on my phone listening to it back and learn to throw my voice a bit.

I wrote down bullet points on small pieces of card and had that with me on the day - never needed to look at them because of the practice. It went very well and as the speech went on confidence grew. Everyone was surprised at how good it was...dunno what that says about me in everyday life !!

All the best - i'm sure it will be fine on the day.

Craphouserat

1,496 posts

201 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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woody2846 said:
Got the dirty deed over with on Saturday. I put prompters on 2 A4 sheets of paper with each part in a differing font, so could regain where I was at a glance.
I also laminated the paper as the speech was done over a mic- if I was shaking then people wouldn't hear the paper rustling.
As far as I can gather the speech went down very well, with a lot of people congratulating me and many hand shakes going on. My mate was pleased I didn't go too far!
All in all I was happy and got merrily drunk after.

Oh and thanks for all the help you guys put forward on here.
Should have read this post first !
Nice one.

HarryFlatters

4,203 posts

212 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Remember to breathe.

Mutley

3,178 posts

259 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Was best man for my best mate, and i read the online "how to do's" and then wrote my own, using them as ideas. I practiced and practiced and I left gaps to fill in on the day as it was relevant.

As a generally shy person I was worried about projecting, but with head up I stood, did the speech and got some laughs, one laugh I didn't expect was because I'd left a gap and not filled it in, luckily it worked, I then sat down and drunk a few drinks rather quickly.

So my advice would be to ensure the speech is complete, be original and clean. And enjoy it, it's a great honour to be asked, and you can help make the couples day

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

233 months

Wednesday 23rd July 2014
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Can’t add to any of the other comments really and anyway the deed is now done and done well by the sounds.

All I would say to anyone looking over this thread in future is that the very best thing you can do is practice, practice, practice. I’ve done quite a few talks for various groups on different topics and there is no substitute for knowing your talk backwards. As you start rolling you’ll feel more confident and happier and naturally your delivery and demeanour will follow. Just don’t be tempted to go off piste as it can be hard to bring it back round to where you intended.