Delivering A Best Man Toast

As the Best Man, one of your duties is to deliver an entertaining best man toast or speech. If you're not a natural born speaker this can be exremely daunting. If you are in this situation, and like many are not the most confident public speaker, then you'll be happy to know that with a little preparation and know-how can go a long way toward polishing the delivery of your best man toast.

Naturally you must first write your toast or speech, once this is out of the way it's time to think about delivery. The way that you deliver your best man speech makes the difference between a joke that sinks, floats, or soars, not to mention whether or not you will be able to engage the audience at the reception.

What follows are a few tips for preparation and delivery of your speech.

First you must decide if you are confident in memorizing a speech. If you have the slightest suspicion you may forget your speech then notecards or a script may be a good idea.

A script is the easiest, but in the end will probably look the least professional. A script contains the entire text of your speech, along with cues for props, photos, and even passes for applause or laughter. Following a script rigidly can result in pausing for laughter that isn't there because a joke fell flat, or waiting for applause that never come. Another drawback to this type of speech preparation is that you will have to read it line-for-line, and this will prevent you from making eye contact with your audience, and eye contact is one of the most important elements of public speaking. A script is best if you are nervous and inexperienced, or if you don't have much time to practice. It should be remembered, however, that this is the least desirable option.

Notes are the next best option, and should be reserved for those who haven't had time to memorize their speech, or are just not confident enough to rely on their memory while standing in front of a crowd of people. Notes can be written on cards with one note per card, or on a sheet with a bulleted list of points. Notes are really just parts of an outline that exists as a skeleton of your finished speech. Instead of having the entire story about the way that the groom met the bride, a notecard might say "how they met," and leave the rest of the story up to your memory. You can refer to your notes occasionally to remember where you are in the speech, but still maintain eye contact with your audience. It should be noted that this is also a great way to "build" your speech - by writing important points on cards and arranging the cards until they say what you need them to.

Finally, memory is probably the best method to use for preparing your speech. The major drawback to this is that if you forget your spot or what, specifically, you were saying, you don't have a crutch to fall back on. Memorizing a speech should be done only by those who are extremely comfortable speaking in front of large groups of people, and are confident in their ability to maintain their train of thought in the event that something interrupts them, like a breaking glass or laughter in an unexpected place. Another drawback of this method is that rote memorization can cause you to recite the speech as mechanically as you might if you were reading it word-for-word from a script.

Once you've decided on how to take notes or to memorize your speech, you need to know a few things to have an effective performance. You delivery style is very, very important, so pay particular attention to these points.

First, at the podium, don't be afraid to adjust the microphone. You should speak clearly and loudly, but not too loudly. It's sometimes O.K. to adjust the microphone and ask people in the back row if they can hear you.

Next, take a sip of water before you begin. You should have some water easily accessible at the podium, as when you're nervous, your mouth may get dry and your voice might get scratchy.

Another aspect of nervousness is that people often tend to speak more rapidly. Be slow and take your time. It might feel like forever to you, but chances are the people in the audience won't notice, but they will appreciate the fact that they can understand every word. Take breaths at appropriate places, for your own sake, but also for the sake of timing. Jokes rely heavily on timing, and taking a pause can help with this immensely.

Make eye contact. This is very important. It builds trust and rapport with the audience. This is why reading from the script is such a bad idea.

Finally, keep your hands in front of you, on the podium. Never put your hands in your pockets or fidget.

These few suggestions will really help with your delivery and make your speech one to remember - for all the right reasons.