Aha! You’ve been notified about rendering a speech as part of your best man’s duties. Now you seem to be a bit overwhelmed because talking in front of people is not your thing. You simply don’t know how to go about it. Well, its no big a deal. We are certain its something you can pull off pretty well.

First and foremost, you must prepare. Build your speech around an angle to flow with. It can be based on humor, wit, sober, classy, straight to the point, … The aim of preparing beforehand is to have a mental note and direction of what to say. Don’t just hope you’d know what to say when you climb on that stage. You might end up saying things you’d regret later and you don’t want that, trust me.

Begin your speech by introducing yourself and creating a connection between your story in line with the couple and relating to the audience. You can tell how you met the groom, your relationship to him, what you thought of each other and why anybody should care.

You can start with “Let me introduce myself, I’m Steve and it’s an honour to be standing here as (grooms) best man. I’ve known this guy all through my life and I remember…”

Once you’ve done this, you should flow the rest of your speech in an angle you chose. Go further to blend in lines well describing your stance. Use killer one liners or humor to grab their attention. You can make it a little crispy by roasting the groom. But you should be on the lookout to avoid crossing certain boundaries.

The point of praising the groom kicks off pretty well. You can express pride at being asked to be the best man or offer up thoughts why you think he’d be a great husband material, or how he has been a good buddy. Something like “When I was asked to be the best man, I felt exactly how (Bride) must have felt when (Groom) asked her to be his wife. Five minutes of glowing pride followed by an eternity of panic and misery.”

While at it, you don’t want to bother the guests with some boring piece, so you could add few anecdotes, humor, transition into different breaks to spice it up.

Then its time to give the bride a mention. She’s an important part of the day after all. Nothing but compliments at first, but then feel free to drop in some entertaining anecdotes about how she met the groom, or your first impression of her. Make sure you tell the good parts. She isn’t your buddy and might take the joke differently. It’s also a good idea to offer up some non-anecdotal observations on the relationship of the couple, this will include the audience along in the speech.

You’re pretty on the right track, now its time to get super sincere. Praise the couple, mention how lucky they both are, how they are a perfect match and all that. “Really, you two are the best friends I could ask for. And, more importantly, you’re the best together. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

You are rounding up so you might include some thankyous to your other buddy’s present, the parents of the couple for making such wonderful people and the guests for finding out time to celebrate with your buddy and wife. All depending on how you intend ending either humorous, sober or intense. Whichever works best for you, resist the urge to spend more time up there. The ideal speech time is 5 – 10 minutes.

At the end of your speech, drop a toast to the newly wedded couple in the form of a quote, a joke, a blessing or a poem. As the spirit leads.

It can end like “here’s to many more years of joy, happiness, boundless love…” or a quote like “we love not because, but despite every flaw, we still stick around… Join me as we toast to more years of love…”

Your job here is done and voila! You can now walk down glamorously and with pride.

We hope these few hacks helps. Congrats to you and your buddy.

Quick Don’ts You Should Avoid

1. 1. Don’t get too tipsy.
   2. Don’t stay more than 10 minutes, ideal speech time is 5 minutes.
   3. Don’t roast the groom too much.
   4. Don’t wash your “guys” dirty linen out in public.
   5. Avoid saying negative facts of marriage.
   6. Don’t talk about the groom’s previous relationships.
   7. Keep your groups secret a secret.
   8. Don’t talk about controversial trends.
   9. Don’t just be a cocky idiot.