Want to nail your Groomsman speech?
You know want to speak from the heart but you also want to keep things relaxed and not overly formal.
Here’s my top 5 tips for making your groomsman speech without sounding like a robot that’s polished things to perfection.
1) Ditch your phone
I can’t think of anything more distracting than using your phone.
Imagine you’re in the middle of your heartfelt speech when a notification comes up that one of your Instagram followers has gone ‘live’ or worse, a work email pings through.
You could turn off all your messages / notifications but you’re still going to the mother of all distractions in the palm of your hand!
Leave your phone to one side.
Bonus tip:
For an extra reason why you should ditch the phone when it comes to making your groomsman speech- it’s just not classy is it? Why not print it or hand write it on some nice paper. You can always keep it after as a memento.
2) Get your thoughts down way in advance
You only get one shot at this. The love of your life is sitting before you in the company of all your closest friends and family. The words you say will be remembered and have a lasting impact. Choose them carefully.
Give yourself plenty of time in advance to craft a clear structure. Think about who you want to thank and how you might express your self.
Writing a script can really help to get all your initial thoughts down and you can take it from there.
My personal experience
I wrote mine the night before. BUT I had mapped out everything I wanted to say and given the whole speech a structure. I won’t recommend this because it was way stress full! I’m a little more organised now because my wife helps me – haha!
3) Allow yourself to go off script
You’re not a robot, so you’re not going to want to stick entirely to a script all the time. Nothing will be duller and uninspiring to your guests than seeing you read into a piece of paper the whole time…
But this doesn’t mean you have to totally wing it!
Paradoxically, this is where having a script really helps (Woah! I never thought I’d use that word in my wedding blog).
It can be very easy to lose your train of thought if you are nervous or if you get overcome with emotion. Having a script to hand will help you to recompose in those moments because you can see where you left off and where you are going next.
Having a list of all the people you’d like to say something to, with an outline of what you’d like to say, will also allow you to ad-lib with confidence because you’ve given A LOT of thought to what you want to say in advance (ergo point number one).
4) Rehearse- but not to death
One way to help you feel more relaxed when making your groomsman speech is to practise it. But don’t rehearse it to the point where you’ve sucked all the life out of it and you’re like, ‘Man, I can’t do this this anymore!’
Try to rehearse just enough so that you feel confident and ready to go! Your delivery doesn’t need to be flawless, if you make the odd mistake, that’s cool – non of your guests are going to care and being genuine is where it’s at.
5) Remember to bring tissues
It doesn’t matter how much of a macho man you think you are, be prepared for some serious crying…
You won’t know exactly how you’ll be in the moment until you are in it. Have some tissues on you just in case those tears come rollin’!
Finally
I can’t wait to hear what it is you have to say on your wedding day! Groomsman speeches are one of my highlights the day everyone is unique and its amazing to hear each couples love story!
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