Giving the Best, Best Man's Speech

As Best Man you have a responsibility for a great many things on the big day. The most important however will be to give a great best man’s speech. Now the prospect of doing this is likely to fill you with absolute dread. Don’t worry about this – you are not alone. Public Speaking is generally accepted as being one of the public’s biggest fears – often outranking death in surveys.



Traditionally the Best Man’s speech replies on behalf of the Bridesmaids for the toast just offered by the Bridegroom. He then moves on to give a speech mainly focused on the Bridegroom.



Many Best Men get hung up about humour in their speeches. A series of gags out of a joke book is no substitute for stories about the groom or the couple. Stories are the way to go in a best mans speech. At my own wedding my best man gave a great speech made up of stories about me in which he tried to prove that he was the “better man” – very clever!



Try to find somewhere between three and five stories that you can link together to become your speech.



If you are married yourself give a few words of advice to the groom – something like “Forget about your mistakes as a husband, there’s no point in both of you remembering.”



Things to avoid are smutty comments about the Grooms past – this is not the stag night!

Also stay clear of comments about the bride – unless of course they are glowing!



Also its best to hold back on the booze. Far too many best mans speeches have been ruined by drunkenness. Save the booze for after speech. Trust me you’ll thank me for it.