And we’re back! ..
Ah the art of toasting.. Let’s face it lots.. I mean lots of people hate, loath, and dread public speaking – even if it is for someone they love. It is the most common fear – so if this is you don’t feel bad AT ALL because the person next to you could very well have the same fear. I’m ‘weird’ I absolutely LOVE public speaking – probably why I am a marketing professional – my parents have said for the course of my life I never needed a megaphone and my husband continually says my voice just carries… I’m going to take these as positives although I’m not sure that they are. My love of public speaking did not happen over night and am I pro at it absolutely not. No I don’t imagine people in their underwear or whatever they are saying as tricks now. I simply look for kind, maybe familiar faces in the crowd.
In order to write a great speech I think we first need to understand why some go awry.
I find Maid of Honour (MOH) speeches are typically the worst… I’m sorry but if you ask wedding goers they agree! Although this is not to say that there haven’t been some absolutely EPIC MOH speeches. First let me explain my reasonings behind why SOME MOH speeches fail to impress..
1. Inside Jokes – while we understand this is your sister, BFF or both and you have an infinite number of memories and inside jokes.. wedding patrons don’t know those jokes, so keep them at bay or one that can be easily explained.
2. Emotion – You are allowed to cry, happy, sad everything tears! This is a very emotional day especially for the MOH.
3. Lack of Humour – Because this day is filled with emotion for everyone, we need some laughs to be put in throughout the as well. A lot of times MOH speeches solely focus on all of the brides awesome qualities – I know she has a million! But people need a comic relief, poke a slight bit of fun at her where she will laugh and so will everyone else.
How to be EPIC..
These are only suggestions and observations from all the weddings we have been to and encountered.
1. Humour – Yes the bride is super fantastic but tell something that everyone can chuckle at including her! Often the groom is the only person that gets poked a bit of fun at.. but the bride should have a bit too!
2. Inside joke minimum – Think of the weddings you have gone to, you and your MOH have a special bond. You have lots of inside jokes and memories share a couple just ensure everyone can understand them.
3. Bring the Groom into play – Often times the groom is left out of the MOH speech, why? Tell a funny story of your first interaction or maybe how awesome and funny he was. Make the groom feel included, in the end your there because both people fell in love.
4. Emotion – You need some emotion. Some heartfelt statement about the bride and about the couple. People want to hear how in love the couple is.
5. Cheers – Always end with a cheers.
Well there you have it folks, this may not get you the perfect speech for every single crowd but it will sure help you in the very least to get the semantics down. For some courage I will provide a true story.
I was recently at a wedding where the bride married a man from Spain. His father Best Man went up to do his speech and he speaks little to no English. Can you imagine with courage it took for him to get up there and say the little words he did. It was so sweet, it didn’t matter that his grammar wasn’t perfect or that he maybe didn’t use the right words, he tried and he spoke from the heart and with some jokes. That’s all that matters. Then his father went up who hardly spoke English and he did his speech in Spanish and what he could in English.
So get up there everyone and do your best. This may not be your favourite thing to do, people understand. If you forget your words, get chocked up, or stumble.. no one will be booing, take a deep breathe and keep moving forward – that is all we strive for..
Cheers,
Urban Diamond White
urbandiamondwhite 