You've written your speech and practiced it in front of friends or family.
They loved your speech.
You are feeling pretty good about it.
After all, you put a lot into it.
It's got a couple of great anecdotes you know the guests will love.
Congratulations.
You've got it in the bag...
or do you? Many a confident speaker has choked by getting off to a poor start.
How do you avoid this? Learn from the best! These are the professionals who get paid mega-bucks to do it right.
Of course, a wedding is a different environment than these career communicators' traditional realm, the business conference.
But their techniques are definitely transferrable.
Do what they do and you are pretty well guaranteed to be a hit at your friend's wedding.
First of all, the professionals know their material inside and out.
It is said that you don't know your speech well enough if you couldn't recite it perfectly on being awakened at 3am to give a command performance.
To a large extent, it's this complete familiarity with their speech that gives these pros their easy, relaxed delivery.
Part of giving a polished performance, of course, is looking great.
So do what you need to do to get this taken care of.
You might want to consult with a hair stylist, lose a few pounds, and get your outfit figured out well ahead of time.
Think ahead and be prepared for sucker punches from the weather man.
Guys, this might just mean having an umbrella inside the car.
We women punish our feet a lot in stiletto heels.
An extra pair with a lower elevation might be handy to have nearby.
Of course, your hemline would need to be able to accommodate the lower heel.
Remember, you could be on your feet for long photo sessions before the wedding dinner.
You don't want to be wincing in pain as you stand to deliver your speech! Knowing the set-up of the head table, microphone, etc.
will also put your mind at ease.
Will there be a podium? If so, a tip from professional speakers is to have your speech crib notes written on the top half of the page so that you aren't looking way down.
And testing the microphone out for quality and ease of adjustment is also a good idea.
Perhaps you will have a clip-on, an even better idea.
Move around at different angles in case the mic is one that screeches if you aren't positioned just so.
An invaluable tip is to pre-warm up your audience by mingling with them ahead of time.
Just a few kind words, asking where they're from and how they know the bride or groom, will suffice.
You want to meet as many as possible.
That way they'll love you before you even start your speech.
Which brings us to the most important part of all: the beginning of your speech.
This is where you have the proverbial 20 seconds to win them over or lose them.
The key is to move into the speech with relish and command.
No fumbling, hesitation or awkward pauses.
Start off with a big smile as you survey the guests and make an amusing comment.
You've set the tone.
The guests are primed to be entertained and give you their full attention.
Just remember to pause long enough to let the laughter subside after your jokes.
You don't want them to miss any of your golden words!