Bridal Club Magazine

3 Ways to Calm the Wedding Speech Nerves

Any wedding speech is nerve wrecking. Making a speech in front of all your loved ones can be an extremely nervous experience and often this is the reason why so many people screw it up. The simple truth is that even a bad speech that's delivered well will do the job just fine. Unfortunately even the best speech in the world that's delivered badly will make you look like a fool and potentially spoil the entire wedding ceremony.

Nervousness is something that affects all of us. Even the best public speakers get nervous. There is something about getting up in front of an audience that is both scary and embarrassing. The difference between a good speaker and a bad speaker is all about how they handle their nerves. Here are some easy tips to help you cope with your wedding speech nerves.

1. Be prepared.

There's an old saying that if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. If you are one of those guys that think they can just "wing it" and make it up when you get there, then you are in for a humiliating experience. You need to sit down and actually think about your speech. Write it out and make some cryptic notes that you can keep with you during your speech.

2. Forget about your audience.

Sometimes the very thought of who is going to be there is enough to work you up into a frenzy. Knowing that this or that person will have their eyes on you can be scary and sometimes it even consumes your mind. Its better to cut all that out. Focus on the speech and block out individuals in the audience completely.

3. Opening

The opening of your speech is the most important. If you can break the ice on a positive note and get the audience t relax then you will be relaxed. This is where a good joke comes in. Start on a cheerful and funny note and everybody will be relaxed. If you can get y audience to laugh it will calm your nerves down immediately.

Being nervous is a self reinforcing thing. The more nervous you are, the more nervous you will get. Have you ever seen someone break down completely on stage? Most of the time it is because of this. You need to nip it in the but and stop nerves before it even sets in.