Here's my confession: my own wedding speech, 11 years ago, was a disaster. I'm
naturally confident and outgoing, and I thought I just had to stand up and the words would come. I made the fatal error, one
my wife still won't let me forget, of not writing anything down. I stood up, my first joke bombed, and then proceeded to do
the only thing I could think of: I panicked. I mumbled some thank you's, told my wife she looked beautiful and got out of
town.
Since then I've written more speeches than I can count for friends
and family, and from there referrals from others who liked my work. But the thing is, my wife still won't let me forget my
own speech, and trust me, I don't want you to have to live with that, too! Here are some quick hints and tips to help you
deliver a great speech.
Public speaking is daunting, especially if you don't do a lot of it. Even the most
experienced of speakers still has to prepare for what they'll say, and the best way is to start with a well-crafted text.
Once you know the words are right, then you're over halfway there.
People don't want you to fail; in fact, many of them have been in the same situation
and know exactly how you're feeling. They want you to succeed, to be a big success, because they know exactly how it feels
to be in your shoes. Feel their support (remember how you've felt watching somebody else give a speech) as you prepare to
speak.
Take it at your own pace. By finding your own tempo you can relax and make the speech
more personal to your own speech patterns. Make the words your own, because you want to give people the impression that this
is all your own work.
Breathe. Take a few deep breaths as you are introduced, fill yourself with energy-giving
oxygen, and try to keep your breathing steady throughout. As we've said, people want you to do well, so you need not be nervous
about what you're saying. John F. Kennedy, and many other famous politicians, marked where he would pause on his speech with
a line splitting up the text. Try this, and you'll have natural pauses where you can catch your breath.
Don't panic if you read something wrong: this is the first time your audience has
heard the speech, so they don't know you've made a mistake.
Have fun. Make people laugh. Move them. That's the speech they'll remember. You can
do this.
