Introduction To Wedding Speeches
Are you and your fiance planning your wedding reception? Are you the father of the bride? Will you be a best man or best woman? Are you a close relative or friend of the couple getting married? Perhaps you will be asked to make a wedding speech in the next 12 to 24 months! Do wedding speeches fill you with fear and trepidation? Will you bury your head in the sand, or proactively face up to the task ahead. In this blog I will look at the structure, content, and length of a wedding speech.
Structure
Structure is important and is key to the delivery of you speech. Without structure a speech can become disjointed, erratic and boring. It is vital to have a logical sequence to your speech. In planning your speech have key points to cover the main things you want to say. Then put your key points in the order you want to say them. This is will help you to structure your speech.
Content
The key points that you have created for your structure will form the main paragraph headings for your wedding speech. Complete what you want to say under each heading. Once you have completed the content of each paragraph prepare transitions between each heading. This will make your speech smooth. If you are thanking people be sure to include all the main wedding party. Never forget to compliment the happy couple in your speech, especially if you are father of the bride.
Length
It takes approximately 10 minutes to deliver a 1,000 word speech. For some this might seem very long speech but for others too short. What needs to be borne in mind are the number of speeches on the day. Also, what time are the wedding speeches scheduled for? At a wedding reception an average of 4 – 5 speeches are the norm. If everyone goes over time in their speech, an hour will go by before you know it. Therefore the wedding organiser needs to consider will the speeches be before the meal, between courses or after dessert. Long speeches can affect your digestion and attention span.
Conclusion
If you are anxious about preparing or delivering your wedding speech, you can contact me by email dermot@dermotcareymc.ie
In my next blog I will be discussing, preparation, delivery, and controlling your nerves.