Delivery
Eight Things That Separate a Good Speech From a Great One
Writing the speech is half the job. Here is how to deliver it.
Slow down by 30 percent
Nerves make you speak faster. You will not notice it happening. The audience will. Before you start, take one full breath and set your pace at what feels uncomfortably slow. That is the right speed. If you finish your speech and thought it felt slow, it probably sounded perfect to everyone in the room.
Print the speech. Do not read from your phone.
Phone screens time out. Scroll position gets lost. Notifications pop up. A printed page does none of these things. Print your speech in at least 18-point font, double-spaced, with wide margins so your eye can find its place instantly. The PDF from GroomSpeak is already formatted for this.
Look up at the couple at least three times
You are talking about them, not reading to yourself. Pick three moments in the speech (the opening line, the middle of the story, and the toast) and make deliberate eye contact with the couple at each one. It turns a recitation into a conversation. The room will feel it.
Pause after the punchline
People need a beat to laugh. If you keep talking, you step on the laugh and it disappears. After anything meant to be funny, stop speaking. Count one full second in your head. If they laugh, wait for it to settle. If they don't, keep moving without showing it bothered you.
Hold the microphone still at chin height
The most common mistake at a wedding reception: dropping the mic when you look at your notes. Keep it at chin height throughout, including when you glance down. Moving it away from your face drops your volume by half. Use your non-dominant hand so your dominant hand can hold the page.
Start with the room, not the notes
Before you say a word, stand up, look at the room, and take one breath. Three seconds of silence before you speak signals confidence. It tells the room you are not nervous, even if you are. The first sentence lands harder when the room is already quiet and looking at you.
End on the couple, not on yourself
The worst toasts end with the speaker's feelings about giving the toast. The best toasts end looking directly at the couple and saying something true about them. Raise your glass during the last sentence, not after it. The room will follow instinctively.
Practice out loud, not in your head
Reading silently gives you no information about how it sounds or how long it takes. Read it aloud at least three times before the day. Once in your room. Once in front of a mirror. Once into your phone camera so you can watch it back. You will catch at least one thing that reads fine but sounds wrong.
The speech has to exist before you can deliver it.
If you still need to write it, GroomSpeak turns one honest story about the couple into a complete speech in about 30 seconds.
Write My Speech · $25