Never "Wing" A Wedding
Speech!
by:
Alex Berez
The one thing you don't want to do on the
day of the wedding is stand up to make your
speech and try to “wing” it. Trying to make a
speech up off the top of your head is a recipe
for disaster. Chances are you'll forget what
you wanted to say, ramble on about unrelated
matters, and say some things you may later
wish you hadn't.
“Now wait,” you may be saying, “I've seen
plenty of people who did great jobs and they
seemed to be giving a completely spontaneous
speech.” Fair enough, but the key word here is
“seemed.” The majority of speeches we see,
especially the ones that appear to be
spontaneous and unplanned, are just the
opposite. These speeches have been planned to
such an extent that the speaker can deliver
them so that it appears the words are coming
to him off the top of his head. This type of
speaking is known as extemporaneous.
Extemporaneous speaking allows you to plan
out what you want to say but also forces you
to practice it so that you can deliver your
words with only a handful of notes instead of
a word-for-word manuscript. There are a number
of reasons why extemporaneous speaking is the
best choice for a wedding speech:
• Because you aren't reading a manuscript,
you will be able to make eye contact with
guests which adds a sense of sincerity and
warmth to your speech.
• Because you aren't making the speech up
as you go along, you can make sure to include
all of the points you want to make. You won't
leave anything out.
• Because you are going to practice the
speech, you'll feel more comfortable with the
words and with the delivery. By the time
you're ready for the actual speech, you'll be
prepared.
• Because people tend to sound monotone
when they read something word for word aloud,
extemporaneous speaking sounds more natural
and more pleasing to the audience's ears.
As you can clearly see, opting for an
extemporaneous speech is going to increase the
likelihood of your public speaking event going
well because it will eliminate many of the
problems inexperienced speakers typically
encounter.
