In the last post as you recall, I said that delivering great best man wedding speeches hinged on doing the right things. Success of the best man wedding speech also depends on not doing the wrong things. Here are 5 of my favorites that send up red flags:
1. The Bride Can Do No Wrong…
Whatever you do, don’t insult the bride. Not even a little bit. If the wedding is a movie, then the star of the movie is the bride. Avoid anything negative, remember the bride walks on water during her wedding day. Any comments that could be construed as insulting or embarrassing should be avoided at all costs.
2. Omar Khadafi At The United Nations
Needless to say, you don’t want to come across like good ole Omar at the U.N. A rambling, senseless wedding speech is not what you want to be remembered for. All good best man wedding speeches will have a beginning, middle, and end. The wedding speech should be well planned and rehearsed so it is well paced, relatively short, and is well received and remembered.
3. And now…Here’s Johnny…
If you are the type of person that loves to tell a funny story or is naturally funny, by all means use that approach in your best man wedding speech. If you are the serious sort, don’t use the funny man approach, it won’t work, don’t go there. A more serious, heartfelt approach would suit you better and come across as touching and very sincere. Stay true to your nature here. Yes, everyone loves to laugh, but not everyone is funny. A more serious story or account, perhaps even droll humor would suit you better. I know some very serious people that are seriously funny in a unique, droll kind of way. It works for them. If not, a more sincere, from the heart approach might be more fitting depending on personality.
4. Where Is Howard Stern When You Need Him?…
Don’t go for any subject that could be viewed as controversial and do it for shock value. You don’t want to be compared to Howard Stern, the king of shock jock. Best man wedding speeches should be free of controversial material. Personality quirks, religious beliefs, political views, physical characteristics, and known secrets of the bride or groom should be avoided completely. What may seem funny to you may not be funny at all to Cousin Leroy or Grandma Ethel.
5. I Said…What?…
If you can not remember your best man wedding speech the next day, you may have had too much to drink. One drink to calm the nerves before the wedding speech is fine in most cases. After the wedding speech and toast is history, feel free to get hammered. Do not let alcohol guide your wedding speech with slurred words and impaired judgement.
I could not have pulled off a better wedding speech without the expert guidance and golden material that had me picking and choosing what I needed to include to make my speech complete. In the next post, you will find out how I planned, practiced, and performed a most memorable best man wedding speech.
Tags: best man wedding speech, best man wedding speeches, wedding planning, wedding speeches and toast