Research shows three out of four people fear public speaking; hence three out of four grooms are stressed about their wedding speech.
If your groom is one of those 75 per cent who are nervous about giving his speech on the wedding day, now is the time to help him. There is nothing wrong with having butterflies. Even the most experienced speakers have them. The trick is to get them to fly in formation. The good news is there are ways to do that.
In traditional weddings, the groom’s speech is the second speech after the bride’s father, and is expected to cover the following:
Thank the bride’s parents for allowing him to take their daughter’s hand in marriage.
A thank you to his own parents, for all the happy years together.
Thanks to the hosts and anybody who has contributed to the wedding and reception.
Honour and say some nice words about his gorgeous bride.
Thank and propose a toast to the bridesmaids.
Thank the flower girls, page boys and ring bearers.
Thank the best man and possibly relate about him.
Thank the ushers or groomsmen.
Thank everyone for their kind wishes, cards and lovely presents.
If no master of ceremonies, introduce the best man.
If the wedding is far enough off and the groom is sufficiently motivated one of the best ways to deal with it is to join an organization such as Toastmasters.
As with most things preparation is the key to success. Have your groom write his speech out in full and then prepare palm cards using dot points. Get him to go over the speech several times and say it out loud. That, combined with the palm cards will overcome the greatest fear – that of the mind suddenly going blank.
There are lots of other tips to help even further. There are whole books written on the subject or you may prefer to search the internet.
Perhaps most important of all, remind him everyone is on his side. The wedding day of all days they want him to feel successful and with those butterflies flying in formation his success is assured.
The groom’s speech
