Public Speaking
Discussion
Hi chaps. Wonder if any of you kind gents could help me out. I'm the best man at a wedding next Saturday.
I have written the speech and am 90% there in terms of knowing it off the top of my head.
I'm bloody nervous to say the least so wondered if there is any helpful tips that the more experienced could pass on.
I have written the speech and am 90% there in terms of knowing it off the top of my head.
I'm bloody nervous to say the least so wondered if there is any helpful tips that the more experienced could pass on.
Don't worry about being word-perfect and memorising something - that will only make it worse if you do forget anything.
Use notecards/postcards (a small deck that you can hold in one hand and refer to as you speak), or even a sheet of A4 on the table in front of you, to remind you about the structure of what you want to say, and to prompt you with the right themes & stories for each part of it instead.
Don't forget the toasts that you should include - they're probably the most important thing.
Use notecards/postcards (a small deck that you can hold in one hand and refer to as you speak), or even a sheet of A4 on the table in front of you, to remind you about the structure of what you want to say, and to prompt you with the right themes & stories for each part of it instead.
Don't forget the toasts that you should include - they're probably the most important thing.
Edited by marshalla on Friday 11th July 14:43
Practice speaking slowly and projecting your voice. When I was best man I stood downstairs and gave the speech to my Mrs upstairs to make sure I was speaking clearly and loudly enough. Put some little reminders on your cue cards to relax, breathe and slow down.
Enjoy a nice cold drink when it's over, relax and remember to say no bloody chance if you are ever asked to do it again
Enjoy a nice cold drink when it's over, relax and remember to say no bloody chance if you are ever asked to do it again
Thanks for all the above. I'm not going to have a drink till it's all over. I recorded myself last night and whilst I don't like the sound of my voice 
, I seemed to be going slow and clear enough.
Think will take the above advice and have some prompters just in case. Funnily enough the nudist beach is the opener ....the classics are the best!
Any more advice? I'm all ears.
Thanks again.
, I seemed to be going slow and clear enough.Think will take the above advice and have some prompters just in case. Funnily enough the nudist beach is the opener ....the classics are the best!
Any more advice? I'm all ears.
Thanks again.
I had to do a best man speech and did a lot of reading of threads on here (of all places!) and it is true, they really are on your side! Don't get pissed, say thanks mum if anyone cheers or laughs, smile, don't be too smutty because it isn't funny and look up and out at the "audience" and not down at your notes or just into space.
Don't pull a load of s
t off the internet. It can be done if you're naturally confident but otherwise it's blatantly obvious that they're not your words or how you naturally speak.
I had a stinking cold on the day and was bricking it so didn't have a drink, was off my tits on cold comfort/day nurse/anything I could think of to stop me dribbling and sneezing and consequently don't really remember anything but apparently it went well.
Don't pull a load of s
t off the internet. It can be done if you're naturally confident but otherwise it's blatantly obvious that they're not your words or how you naturally speak. I had a stinking cold on the day and was bricking it so didn't have a drink, was off my tits on cold comfort/day nurse/anything I could think of to stop me dribbling and sneezing and consequently don't really remember anything but apparently it went well.
woody2846 said:
Speeches are before the grub, thank fk
We did this, both myself and my best man wanted to be able to enjoy our food knowing it was donekMy best man wasn't the most comfortable public speaker but he did really well, some nice compliments to my wife and family, some piss taking of me, some comments that made my sphincter clench just a little and all was good
Stand in front of the mirror and read it back to yourself a few times so you can get to grips with the pace of delivery. Alternatively, record yourself doing the speech a few times and listen to it back. If you sound rushed and not intelligible, you probably are. Do it enough times so that you sound relaxed, well paced and speaking clearly. The aim isn't to just read words on a piece of paper-youre telling a story! Once you're comfortable with the story, you'll naturally inject emotion and enthusiasm into the speech.
But above all practice!
But above all practice!
Make your notes in big letters with a space between each line. Easier to read without loosing your place.
If you do the notes on cards which for me works well, number each page boldly. I once dropped my cards (about 30 of them), it was a lecture and hopefully your speech won't be that long!
But I was quickly able to get them back in order and carry on
If you do the notes on cards which for me works well, number each page boldly. I once dropped my cards (about 30 of them), it was a lecture and hopefully your speech won't be that long!
But I was quickly able to get them back in order and carry on
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.
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.
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