Have you been putting off writing your wedding speech for months and you’ve just realised that the wedding is on Saturday? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. My phone regularly rings on a Thursday with requests to help write (or re-write) a speech for that weekend!
If you have left writing your wedding speech until the last minute, some of my usual tips for writing a great wedding speech — like research and preparation — just aren’t realistic.
So what should you do if you need to write a last minute wedding speech?
- Don’t panic! If you think clearly and calmly there is always time to get it right.
- Change your goals. Shorten the length of time you plan to speak for and don’t try to create something that’s too unorthodox.
- Keep it simple. Your subject may be complicated but your speech can’t be.
- Make two lists: ‘Must Say’ and ‘Could Say’.
- In the ‘Must Say’ list scribble down the people you need to thank, the toast you need to make and the basic points you need to cover.
- In the ‘Could Say’ list the things that might bring the speech to life.
- Focus on a maximum of three points in the ‘Could Say’ list. If, for example, you are a best man, these could be the groom’s love of sport, spreadsheets and takeaways.
- Create a simple structure for the speech which sandwiches the ‘Could Says’ between the ‘Must Says’. This will help break your speech up and mix the sincere and lighter elements.
- Ensure that your sentences are short and punchy. Read them out loud to ensure that you can deliver them easily.
- Print them off in a large font and leave room on the page for lots of pauses and time to read each sentence before you deliver it.
Of course, the alternative is to call me for some last minute help!
Good luck.
Guest post by Lawrence Bernstein of Great Speech Writing
Image from Pixabay
