This Could Be The Best Man Speech Guide You Are Looking For
In the olden days, the duties of a best man were generally limited to helping the groom kidnap the bride. Things have changed considerably and, now, instead of kidnapping, the best man is practically guaranteed to have to speak in front of a group. And since most best man would think that giving a best man speech is the most difficult job they have ever done in their entire life, here is an article that could serve as a best man speech guide and hopefully will help them to make their best man speeches.
Often times, the idea of the best man speech is appealing, at first. Amusing anecdotes, a rising passion to send off your brother-from-another-mother in style. As with many of us, you will be made aware of the guest list. As often happens, its size might catch you off guard. You’re thinking about what to say, and you realize that there will be little old ladies present.
Suddenly, sharing choice moments from your college days might seem like the worst idea you’ve ever had. The scope of your audience stretches out before you.
I’ve seen a fair share of best man speeches get neutered, wrapped up like a neat, inoffensive little care package and delivered in a mumble that saps the very life from the wedding party.
With the opinion of the average human on the prospect of speaking in front of a crowd, odds are fair that someone is going to be very dull. If you want to lessen the odds that it will be you, you’re going to need to navigate a very tight channel.
Don’t worry about the little old ladies. It’s whoever your best man is walking out of the ceremony is that you need to worry about. You’re reflecting on this guy. He volunteered you for a fair bit of very subtle responsibility. These little speeches will be remembered. Drunken slurred best man speeches from fifty years ago are still remembered with crystal clarity by those witnesses present.
Even so, this is no time to be timid. You’re participating in a very important event in your friend’s life. This is a time to show him that you’ll remember those times past, and that you anticipate good times ahead for him.
As with any wedding speech, no punch-lines, if you don’t know where and how to include them in your speech. By the way, appropriate punch-lines could make your speech an instant hit. Anecdotal humor is good, but everything else you save for open mic night. You don’t need to go the humor route, but if you do, you can’t just hope to clown your way through it.
You’ve probably shared a great deal of laughter with this guy. This is an opportunity to share something more. Rejoice for him. Show him, and all present, that you are glad for him.
A lot of people are going to want to have their say. Generally, the best man goes first, introducing the new couple. Either immediately following, or during the reception, the best man gets the ball rolling. Think of this less as a speech and more as an introduction. It may not be as distinct in your mind, but this isn’t your event.
As with any speech, less is more. There is far more power in saying a great deal with a small budget of words than waxing poetical. As a great many people may well be waiting in the wings, you would do well to keep it short and sweet.
That said, no one knows this guy like you do. You’re his best man, so that’s a pretty good assumption. Bring something unique to the table. No one needs a long-winded, over-bearing good-luck speech. Any number of paternal figures can do that.
Whether serious or humorous, speak from the heart. Don’t try to find the best line, but find, instead, the best way to say what you mean. Unless you’re in the business of public speaking, anything that doesn’t come from the heart will probably be obvious. And, if you are in the business of public speaking, what on earth are you doing, reading this?
No groom, I think, truly realizes how much pressure he’s volunteered you for. He’s got a lot on his mind as it is. Your job, more than anything, is to give him a little less to worry about. If you’re reading this, that obviously concerns you and, in of itself, that is a major step. There is no structure, no magic recipe; it’s all reliant on context and who these people are.
My grandparents were married for nearly seven decades before my grandfather passed. They both remembered their wedding, shortly after the end of World War 2. It was generally a struggle to remember his name, their best man dead for over forty years, but what he said stuck with my grandfather to the end of his days.
When you raise that glass, remember that you will be raising that same glass in people’s memories for who knows how long to come. Make it count.
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