Tips for Writing the Bestman Speech

Along with planning your epic Stag Do, BoyzWeekend also offers tips for writing the Bestman’s speech. Writing a Bestman speech is not as daunting as you think. The following Bestman tips and guidelines will ensure you write a funny and memorable speech.

Here are some of the things that you need to include in the Bestman speech:

The Essentials:

Dates – how long have the bride & groom been together, how long have the wedding couple known each other?
Get some background of his wife to be (nice stuff, flatter her). Although your speech is not about the bride, you must acknowledge her.
Be sure to make it funny.

These few points are essential for writing a Bestman speech. As funny as you make your Bestman speech you must add real events that have happened.

The Extras:

A funny story. This is a must do in a Bestman’s speech. But there are a few rules you must obey. Firstly, ex-girlfriends are not out of bounds but no horrific details. If you can, avoid them. Try to make the story between 150 and 300 words. Any less than this, and the story will be too vague, anymore and it runs the risk of being too long and dragging to the extent of boredom. Finally, the story has to be real, if you make it up, the groom and those who know him will find out, which could lead to a tricky situation.
What is your friend like as a friend, as a partner to his wife to be, and as a man? For example, is he a hard worker, romantic etc.?
The final two things you need to write are these. What has he achieved in his life? And in his working life, school to work? And secondly how do you want to see him in a year’s time? Kids, a promotion at work, things like that. Also add after these points that you haven’t forgot about his new wife, but that you know they will be together for a lot longer than a year.
After you have got all this information there is a set way that you must write it and say it. If you follow the guide-lined layout, inserting your information, your speech will be close to completion.

After you have finished writing in your information, give it to a friend to read. Watch them read it. It is harder to laugh while reading funny material so if they laugh, you have cracked it. If they like it, you are finished.

The Layout of your Bestman speech:

Firstly, thank the groom for his speech, and the father of the bride for his. Also thank all for attending.
Give up a toast for the pair of parents. And say thank you to them on behalf of the bride and groom.
The bride and groom as a couple. What they are like together, etc.
Tell the story of your friend, the funny one. Put real emotion into this to get the best laughs.
What he is like, and what he has achieved. Love and life.
The bride. What she is like and what impact she has made on his life.
The final toast. Just a quick mention to wish them all the best.

Read your speech or memorize it!!

Few people are willing to trust everything to memory. An alternative is to thoroughly familiarize yourself with your speech and then reduce it to a set of brief notes on cue cards. The advantage of this is that your speech will not sound as if it is being read word for word. But if you do decide to read it, nobody will mind.

Before delivering the Bestman speech.

Practice – Whatever you decide – rehearse it. Then rehearse it again – until you are sick of it. That should be about right.

During the Bestman Speech…. Slow Down – What ruins more speeches than anything else is a nervous speaker going too fast. He doesn’t pause to let his points sink in and doesn’t wait for the laughs he wants. His audience is then so busy trying to catch what he’s gabbling about that they don’t have time to laugh. Oh dear – no laughs. What does our speaker do? Panics and accelerates even more. Result – disaster! Even experienced speakers suffer this urge to speed up. Don’t give in to it.

Body Language – Stand up straight and look confident. Even if you are reading, look up and at your audience from time to time. Eye contact makes them feel you are talking to them, and it will help you with your pauses.

Laughs – If you expect a laugh – wait for it. If it doesn’t come tell people, they were supposed to laugh and refuse to go on until they do. That will kick start them. Don’t begin again until the laughter has died down – enjoy it. Study professional comedians – you’ll learn a lot.

Interruptions – Enjoy interruptions, especially funny ones. They provide thinking time, and hey… people will remember it was your speech that got the laughs; they won’t remember that it wasn’t always your lines.

Lastly, don’t drink too much before speaking. You might think it helps, but your audience won’t.

These basic Bestman speech rules will help you make a memorable presentation. If you’re also working with a professionally written speech to begin with – you should be on a real winner.