Best Man Myspace Page takes shape
Well it’s been a long time coming, but finally I have started my own myspace web page. Not sure about the medium for the purposes of sharing best man information though. It seems better suited to musicians and people interested in the arts… maybe speaking is an art? and the pain you inflict on your stag at the bucks night, couple be considered art? Dress him up in a skirt, V-string, bikini, or the like, take a picture and call it art.
all the same, you can check out the myspace page at Classic Best Man Speech Myspace Page
The Ten Sins of a Best Man Speech
Finally! - what not to say… with all the help in the world people could still get it wrong by doing one of the ten worst best man speeches you’ll ever hear.
as an example:
2. Negative speech
Negativity has no place at a wedding. They are joyous occasions, so don’t try and bring the mood down with a negative speech. In fact, you’re speech should not have any negativity in it at all. But so you know what a negative speech might look like, here’s an example of what not to say.
“Unfortunately I have been asked to say a few words tonight. I didn’t really want to say anything so didn’t prepare anything in advance. But here goes… The wedding ceremony was nice, although some air conditioning or an open window would have been nice. I could have sworn it was 100 degrees in there. But all the same, I enjoyed the ceremony and I’m sure you all did too. I thought it was funny that when John first dated Jane, he told me that he wouldn’t be interested in marrying her, but nevertheless, here we are today.”
New Best Man Speech WebSite Layout
Well it’s been many late nights, a bit of blood, sweat and even a few tears has gone into getting a better ClassicSpeeches web design.
Hope you enjoy it, the new content and new pages too! All built by yours truely. New content will be added each week, or so that is the plan… the free best man speech is still there too. Feel free to download the speech! on the classic best man speech web site.
I’ve listed all the classic best man speech products on a single page. and all the comments where people have had a bit of success with our products too.
enjoy!
New Best Man Speech Toolbar
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Now you can keep up to date with Classic Speeches. If you’re creating a best man speech or have a wedding speech coming up, then you want to be kept up to date with all the latest speeches and information for a best man. Search on best mans speech’s quickly and easily with the classic speeches toolbar There’s two versions of the toolbar, for Internet explorer and Firefox.
Get them here!
First Century Chinese Love Speech
Image by prgibbs via Flickr
“The key to love is understanding …
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
but those unspoken gestures,
the little things that say so much by themselves.
The key to love is forgiveness ….
to accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
without forgetting, but with remembering
what you learn from them.
The key to love is sharing …
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
both conquering problems, forever searching for ways
to intensify your happiness.
The key to love is giving …
with out thought of return,
but with the hope of just a simple smile,
and by giving in but never giving up.
The key to love is respect …
realizing that you are two separate people,
with different ideas;
that you don’t belong to each other,
that you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.
The key to love is inside us all …
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients
that will take you to its threshold;
it is the continual learning process
that demands a lot of work …
but the rewards are more than worth the effort …
and that is the key to love.”
what about the bridesmaids
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Interesting reading some of the history behind bridesmaids. I read the other day that back in ancient times, the objective of the bridesmaids was to keep the evil spirits away by making them not be able to determine which is the bride and which is the bridesmaids, so give up and go away. Is it really the job of the bridesmaids in this day and age to deter attention away from the bide? Being evil spirits at that, why is it that the role of the bridesmaids now is to help the bride look the most beautiful at the party? goes against tradition… or maybe tradition is outdated and we only do the same things as the ancients, but for entirely different reasons. I pledge the later.
A Traditional Wedding Toast
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When toasting the bride or groom try and be original and traditional at the same time.
When you toast is the same as everyone before, it gets a little monotonous I think. I mean, the traditional “to the bride and groom”phrase is almost certain to come out… so try and be original
What is a wedding toast and why do we do it?
Image by emilysailor via Flickr
Wedding speeches can make or break the mood of a wedding. Everyone enjoys the praise, jokes and tasteful jokes that are spoken at these events, except for maybe the groom, who is often the subject of most of the jokes. But that aside, speaking is also one of the hardest things to do well. This article focuses on wedding toasts specifically.
But what is a wedding toast?
A toast is someone or something in honor of which people usually have a drink, somtimes following the clinging of glasses together.For example, In a wedding, the bride and groom would be considered to be “the toast of the evening”, for whom someone “proposes a toast” to congratulate and for whom the wedding guests “toast” in agreement. It is often thought of as a western culture type event to “Have a drink to…” with reference to a person or event in which to have a drink in celebration of. The toast is simply an extension of this cultural habit.
It is generally accepted that the practice of toasting first originated in Greece, at a time when fear of poisoning was a significant concern to the people. So to put guests at ease, the host would pour the guests’ wine from a common decanter, take the first drink to demonstrate its safety, then raise his cup to the guests and invite them to drink in good health.
The word ‘toast’ became associated with the custom in the 17th century, based on a custom of flavoring drinks with spiced Toast. The word originally referred to the lady in whose honor the drink was proposed, her name being seen as figuratively flavoring the drink.
Now, it is often customary to have a number of toasts throughout an evening of wedding speeches. They generally follow a brief speech or words about the bride and groom, or bridesmaids. It is also too often spoken, the most unoriginal toast is the only toast in the evening. That is, the words “To the Bride and Groom” or “To Mr & Mrs Smith”. And in the horrible event of someone unable to attend due to a sudden death, the inevitable toast “To absent friends”.
From an audience’s point of view, there’s nothing more boring, or laboreous than doing the same toast over and over again. We watch television for entertainment and stimulus of our sences, and public speaking is a form of entertainment for the audience, so lets explore a range of toasts to help spice up your speech and keep it original. And again, I highly reccommend having at least two different toasts memorized for your speech, just in case your original toast is already used in a previous speech or toast.
Here’s a few ideas:
Here’s to health, peace and prosperity. May the flower of love never be nipped by the frost of disappointment, nor shadow of grief fall among your family and friends.
A friends love says if you ever need something I’ll be there. True love says You’ll never need anything I’ll be there.
May your love be modern enough to service the times and old fashioned enough to last forever.
May you live as long as you love and love as long as you live
To Happiness, Health, Wealth & Good Fortune
May the best day of the past together be the worst day of your future.
Gareth Berry is a toastmaster and has written wedding speeches that have been published all over the world. He has written and developed speeches, toasts, quotes and other speaking resourses to assist with delivering memorable speeches. You can get a collection of his best mans speeches and speaking guides at www.classicspeeches.com
A Good Structure for speaking at a wedding
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The structure of your speech is pretty simple if done right, and if done wrong your speech can become a complete mess.
A good speech starts at the beginning, has a middle and an end. In public speaking arenas we call this the “Opening” the “Body” and the “Conclusion”. We’ll be using these words to describe the different parts of the speech from here.
But if it was all that simple then we’d all be expert public speakers. As well as having the structure, you need the words, and you need to learn how to say it too… which you can learn from studying our other publications from the members download area of our web site at www.classicspeeches.com
Now, the organization of a speech is of critical importance to the overall impact of the speech. In the case of a best man speech, this formula is exactly the same. Good speech organization is essential if the audience is to follow your speech. You must take some time to put your ideas of your speech down on paper before you start, in an orderly manner if at all possible. Remember in a five to seven minute speech you only have enough time to cover two or three points MAXIMUM! So please don’t try to write a whole life story but keep your points to just a few, and remember to include some points of relevance about the bride if at all possible too!
Your basic structure for your speech is as follows:
1. Your Opening remarks should capture the audiences attention
2. Your body of your speech should support your opening remarks
3. The conclusion should reinforce the opening and your body in a memorable heart felt way.
. Remember, that although you will have a relationship with the Groom, and the Grooms party at the wedding, the Bride is now an integral part of the occasion, a very important part that should be referenced somewhere in the opening remarks of your speech. It is absolutely necessary to do this, as the bride will not thank you if all her wedding party don’t get your jokes, or are not acknowledged during your opening words. In this respect, it is often better to say a quick witty joke, or one liner to grab the audiences attention, making sure not to offend anyone… the following is a good humorous opening you could use for your speech:
“Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, I had asked for a microphone, but one wasn’t offered, so if you can’t hear me at the back, don’t worry too much, as the silence from those in the front row will assure you you’re not missing out on anything.”
Try and memorize the beginning. The impact of standing up, lifting your head and speaking to the audience will help make them feel immediately part of the wedding speech. Remember that your audience actually want to hear what you have to say. If you can make eye contact with them, then your message will be received a lot better.
The best way to lay out the body of your speech is by formulating a series of points that you would like to raise. The points should be organised so that related points follow one another so that each point builds upon the previous one. This will also give your speech a more logical progression.
You will only have time to cover two or three points maximum, so keep your stories small and straight to the point. Don’t get caught up on the detail of your stories. Set up the scene of your story, then give a sentence or two to it before tying it into the next part of your speech.
There should be a general direction in your speech, but you need not be too rigidly organized into points and transitions. Make the body of the speech a sequence of little build-ups to a climax or punch line. The trick is to try and keep momentum going with your speech. So do break down your body into one or two stories, and never deliver a monologue of past events as this will bore your audience to tears.
The Conclusion Once again a very simple task. This is your toast to the bide and groom. You should however have two or three different toasts to call upon as it is possible that someone else has already used your toast. And you want to end your speech on a personal and original note, so try to use a toast that hasn’t been used already.
Gareth Berry writes speeches for best men all over the world. Also an accomplished toastmaster and public speaker is currently using skills in this area to assist others with delivering memorable speeches. you can get a collection of his best mans speeches and speaking guides at www.classicspeeches.com
Tips to Speaking at a Wedding
1. - Your speech needs to have a logical order. Make sure you have your speech blueprint written down into sections under the following headings; Beginning; Middle; End.
2. Under each of these sections write a few ideas that you’d like to say. Some ideas about what to write could be;
a. what do you know about the groom? (things that make good stories),
b. little known stories about the groom,
c. their interests,
d. date of birth and
e. famous people that share the same birthday etc…
3. You will need to introduce yourself to the audience. Do you know them, or will they be mainly strangers? As most people may not know who you are, be sure to give an introduction that is funny, catches their attention, and depicts the relationship that you have with the groom. You may also like to say a few words thanking the people hosting the wedding here, but that is entirely up to you.
4. Write down all the points and stories in the body of the speech. I generally like to do this first. Remember, in a 10 minute speech, you’ll have time for two stories only. In a 15 minute speech, you’ll only be able to cover 3 points max… so make sure they are short, to the point, and entertaining anecdotes about the groom. It helps if they are little known points about the groom, that way you don’t bore the audience with stuff that they already know and take for granted about the groom.
5. For the closing, it’s hard to go wrong with a traditional toast or blessing for the couple. Make your toast loud impressive and short. Don’t forget to have a full glass around, and drink to your toast yourself. For a good collection of wedding toasts, go to www.classicspeeches.com
6. When giving the speech, talk to the whole audience. Life your head up, speak loud and clearly. Make sure everyone hears you and sees you and never speak to the floor. If you are addressing individual people like bridesmaids, it helps to talk directly to them in the first person. This will help to build trust and a relationship with the listeners. Use good vocal variety and pause for maximum impact for the speech. DO NOT use umms and ahhs, as they detract from your message.
7. Take your time speaking. You should have practiced your speech at least three times before the big day so you know the content and have the timing and pauses well rehearsed. This will also help your confidence with this public speaking engagement. It is common for people to speak too rapidly when nervous. Try to avoid this by consciously speaking in a calm, relaxed tone. Don’t be too quiet, especially if you don’t have a microphone.
8. At the very least, you must memorize the introduction and the toast. You don’t want to spoil a good speech by reading a paper from beginning to end. You can have the structure on a note card and practice delivering the speech a few times in front of a mirror. And most of all… ENJOY IT!!!
