Giving a Wedding Speech
It is not unusual for someone to come to see me because they will be giving a wedding speech shortly. Very often, they have had little if any experience of speaking before an audience, or have been in a position to avoid it, and it is causing them anxiety.
My first advice to you would be to prepare your speech well in advance. When someone comes to see me a couple of weeks before giving their speech and they haven’t finished writing it, I worry for them. You need plenty of time to absorb the content of your speech and practise it. If you are well-rehearsed, this will help you enormously when delivering it facing the wedding guests. Feeling ill-prepared will in itself heighten any nerves.
If you need help with knowing what to put in your speech, there is a great deal of information out there on the internet, much of it written by seasoned public speakers. I would recommend harnessing the power of telling stories. The right choice of stories that express what you want to convey about the groom and/or the bride will make presenting your speech so much easier since your familiarity with them will mean you can tell them with ease. People warm to stories so you can be pretty sure your audience will be drawn in and respond.
Practise, practise, practise. Practise out loud. Practise standing up if you will be standing up on the day, so you can engage your body language. Practise in front of friends and perhaps family. Video yourself so you can see yourself how your audience will see you. Practice will help you learn your speech as well as embody it. Think about your pace and the tone of your voice.
If you feel you could still do with some help with anxiety, then hypnotherapy and integral eye movement therapy can help you. We can get to the root of the nerves and alleviate them at source. We can build a powerful speaker resource that comes into play when you stand up to give your speech. We can mentally rehearse you delivering your speech on the day with ease, poise and all the qualities you wish to incorporate.
Recently, I was invited on to a podcast by Michael McMahon, a wedding speech coach, and we talked about how I can help people giving wedding speeches with my therapies and the power of incorporating stories into your speech. You can view that here.
And this is what a client said about the work we did to get him ready for a best man’s speech. This particular person I also helped with choosing the content of his speech and putting it all together.
"Hi Catherine,
just quick note to let you know the speech went fantastically well!!
I was surprised how calm I was on the day and only became a little nervous in the couple of minutes leading up to my speech.
I am so glad I had the sessions with you, it 100% helped me. A.H. London.