Best Man Guide
The first task is to structure your speech. In other words write down an outline of the areas you want to cover. This will give you a blueprint to work from when writing the detail of your speech, and it will break down the whole task into manageable chunks.
A standard best man’s speech usually takes the following structure.
| Section | Description |
| Opening | Start with a funny remark to relax you with an early laugh. |
| Compliments | Formal bit. Compliment the bride, bridesmaids and rest of the wedding party. |
| Introduction | Introduce yourself and your relationship to the groom |
| Roasting the Groom | A handful of sections about the groom, his past and his embarrassing exploits. |
| Words of advice | A couple of jokes about marriage disguised as advice to the bride and groom. |
| Bit of sincerity | Time to get a bit emotionally with a few heart-felt comments about the groom and the bride. |
| Toast | A final toast to the happy couples and their future. And you are done, where is the bar? |
With the above skeleton for your speech you will find it easier to start adding the flesh of what you want to say.
This structure can be thought of as a sandwich with the formal sections at the beginning and end, and the juicy, personal filling in the middle. With a ten-minute speech, the middle section will only be about five minutes long. I’m sure you can do that!
When writing the middle section dedicated to roasting the groom, pick some topics that sum up his interests, job, hobbies, passions, notable skills or achievements. Then for each of these topics write down what insults/jokes you want to include. Now comes the creative bit of weaving all this material together into a speech.
I found Mitch Murrey’s book “Handbook for the Terrified Speaker” a very useful investment for tips and advice on writing and delivering a speech.
There is always the option to pay someone else to write your speech for you. There are a number of these services offered on the Internet. Instant Wedding Speech Templates will provide you will over 80 complete wedding speeches plus 200 toasts, quotes and jokes to make you sound like a pro.
Props
Props or photos are a useful addition to a best man’s speech. If it is relevant and funny then the audience will love a visual gag. Keep it a secret and the surprised look on the groom’s face will double the laugh.
The old favourite is to get hold of some embarrassing pictures of the groom. Parents always have a good supply and old friends should be able to produce some choice photos. These can be put into a presentation, copied and placed on the tables, or displayed on a noticeboard.
Other examples of visual gags are dodgy clothes, old toys and embarrassing attempts at art.
some tips on delivering the speech..