Best Man Speech Help: 5 Ways to Write a Memorable Toast
Looking for best man speech help? I’ve got you covered. As a professional wedding speech writer, I work with stressed out best men like yourself. You may be prepared to throw your friend a killer bachelor party. However, do you feel equally as confident to write a best man speech that will be worthy of re-watching on the wedding video in 20 years?
No need to get anxious. I’ve got five tips to provide you with best man speech help.
Best Man Speech Help Tip #1 – Hire Help
If you’re really feeling out of your element when it comes to writing the best man speech, it’s time to hire help. Who says you must do the actual writing? You just need a speech that is completely custom to your friendship and written in your voice.
At Wedding Words, we work one-on-one with best men to write speeches that capture their story. We also provide tips that are custom to the client for how to deliver the speech. Writing is half the battle but being able to confidently recite the speech in front of 200 guests is the second challenge. We’ve got you covered within both areas. Get in contact to learn more about how we could work together.
Best Man Speech Help Tip #2 – Interview Yourself
The cure to getting best man speech help is to obtain plenty of material to work with. How do you find the stories, anecdotes, and memorable one-liners that you’ll use within your best man speech?
It starts with an interview—with yourself.
Turn on the voice recording feature on your phone and answer the following questions out loud. Pretend you’re having a conversation with a friend. Your responses will sound more natural. Once you’ve completed the interview, transcribe your answers. I’ll admit—this step is tedious. But if you can manage to put in the work of typing every word you spoke on the recording, then the rest of the speech writing process will become much easier.
Here are some questions you can use for the interview:
How did you meet the groom? What’s your relationship to him?
How has the groom shown you support over the years?
What are your favorite qualities about the groom?
Why are you two close? Why will you continue to be close as the years go by?
What are you most grateful for about your friendship?
Why do you think the groom asked you to be his best man?
What do you think of his future spouse?
What are your hopes for their marriage?
Best Man Speech Help Tip #3 – Identify Themes
As you read through the notes from your interview, what common themes are present? Do you mention often how supportive your friend has been over the years or how his sense of humor is his best quality? Identify common themes and use these to anchor and organize your best man speech.
Here is an example of what a best man speech outline looks like and how themes are used to frame the speech.
Introduction – Introduce yourself and how you’re related to the groom.
Theme #1: Friendship – From the introduction, transition into talking about how his friendship has been impactful in your life and what qualities have made him a good friend.
Theme #2: Sense of humor – Tell a short anecdote that demonstrates how the groom is funny. This is an appropriate time to sprinkle humor into your speech without sounding trite or cheesy. This is because the jokes will be natural to the tone and context of the specific story you choose to tell.
Theme #3: Supportive – It’s important to mention your friend’s spouse. Choose a final theme that you can use to transition to his partner too. For example, if you talk about how supportive your friend has been over the years, you can then mention how you know he’ll bring that same level of support and love to his marriage and his new spouse.
Closing – Close with one line that summarizes how you feel about the groom and a wish for his marriage.
Best Man Speech Help Tip #4 – Edit Your Speech
Now that you’ve completed the first draft of your best man speech, it’s time to edit. When editing a best man speech, look for the following:
Unnecessary words – As you reread your draft, are there any words that are not needed? What would happen if you removed a word? Would the sentence still make sense? Would the same idea and emotion be expressed? If so, delete it. It’s not needed.
Repeated ideas – Are there any parts of your speech that say the same thing? Reword an idea to say something new or remove the similar sentence.
Odd tone – The best man speech should sound like you. Read the speech out loud. Are there any words that you’d never actually use? Your best man speech does not need to sound overly poetic. It should just sound like you on your most poised day.
Best Man Speech Help Tip #5 – Practice Reciting Your Speech
Are you nervous about reciting your best man speech in front of the wedding party and all 200 guests? No pressure, right?
The number one trick to kicking your nerves to the curb is to practice reciting your speech several times before the wedding day.
I recommend three these different ways to rehearse your best man speech:
In front of a mirror –Do you see yourself in the mirror as you recite the speech or no? This is a reminder to make eye contact with the audience rather than have your head buried in your notes.
To a friend – Practice your best man speech in front of a friend who you can trust to provide you with constructive feedback. Even better if you can get a small group to listen. This will help to calm your nerves when you think about having to speak in front of actual people!
On your phone – Utilize the voice recording feature on your phone. Press record and recite your speech. Then listen to the recording. It might feel uncomfortable to hear your own voice but there’s more insight to gain when you listen to your voice. Do you say “um” every five words? Are you speaking too quickly or too slowly? Notice these ticks before it’s time to speak in front of wedding guests.
This may be the most difficult and daunting part of preparing for your best man speech. However, if you can muster through practicing your speech, it will be the most helpful in ensuring you present an impactful and memorable toast.