9 Tips to help you Deliver the Greatest Best Man’s Speech

So, it’s your best friend’s wedding day coming up, and you’re the best man. Depending who you are, this could either be fairly nerve wracking, or a duty you can’t wait to carry out. Either way, you’re going to be expecting to deliver a speech at some point!

Your best man’s speech should have some thought behind it, and it most certainly should not rely on you mindlessly rambling. If you’re not a natural at giving a speech though it can be quite difficult putting it all together. No problem – we can help you there.

If you’re in need of a hand with your speech, or just generally want to look for some top tips then read on, as here are a few points that I feel could come in useful.

Introduce Yourself

The groom may be your best friend, but there’s a good chance that a lot of people at the wedding won’t actually know who you are. You’d be amazed how many blokes have given a best man speech without telling people who they are first. So, remember to introduce yourself at the start!

Stay Sober!

This is important. Seriously, don’t do it on the piss. There’s plenty of time for that later. People will remember your speech for all the wrong reasons if you’re slurring your words and struggling to stand up. A small sip for courage is fine, but don’t be stupid about it.

Cue Cards

If you think you’ll need a couple of small cue cards in your hand then don’t worry too much about it. It’s okay to break gaze with everyone for a second just for a quick reminder. Don’t recite word-for-word from an entire sheet of paper if you can help it though, if anything that’s just going to make you more nervous and it will become clear when the paper is shaking and you mess up your words.

Improvise to Read the Room

If any jokes go over people’s heads, don’t panic. It’ll only get worse if you have to try and explain it, and it’ll become clear how unfunny you are. Try improvising a few things to see what gets a good reception, and remember it’s not a comedy club so you don’t have to be funny ALL the time.

Do your Homework

Giving a best man’s speech is an honour. Find out what you can about the groom from their other friends so you can present more than one side to him. While you shouldn’t censor yourself too much, just don’t go too hard on the banter. If you think something is truly awful and inappropriate, that’s because it probably is.

Ex Partners

Don’t go there. Some people stay friends with their exes, and they may well be at the wedding. There’s no need to slag off your grooms ex partners, and the crowd certainly aren’t going to be interested either, nor will they be flattered.

Compliments

You’ll probably be expected to recite how beautiful the bride and bridesmaids look, but just keep it clean and don’t be sexist. Utilising laddish behaviour and saying how you’d “tap that” is just going to make you look like an idiot, and the groom will likely regret asking you to be best man.

Embarassment, not Humiliation

This is a great chance to have a bit of fun, but remember you’re not trying to ruin the groom’s life. Stories that you tell will likely be expected by him to come up. You don’t need to go down the toilet humour route, or bring up any criminal activities from the past etc. You’d think that’s an unwritten rule, but you’d be surprised. Some men speak first, think later.

Length

It’s up to you, but personally I would say you don’t have any reason to make your speech any more than 10 minutes. If you go on too long, people are going to get bored, drinks will be empty, and you’ll just be delaying all the fun and dancing. Also, make sure you don’t make it any longer than the father of the bride’s speech.

There’s a few tips I found useful when it came to delivering my first Best Man’s speech. Hopefully these can come in useful for you too.

If you have any tips you want to share (or if you think any of mine are actually quite awful) then please drop a comment below!