There are those who are natural born public speakers, and then there's the rest of us. Not being at ease in the spotlight does not automatically disqualify you from the position of giving a wedding speech. Fortunately, there are some tricks you can employ to calm your nerves. Here are some ways to eliminate the worst of your fears.
The best antidote to stage fright is to be prepared. If you have put some time in on composing an impressive, heartfelt presentation, you are halfway there. After you have a polished final draft in hand, you can begin practicing. The more times in advance of the day that you practice delivering it the more professional it will become. You'll find you have much of it memorized and can make some good eye contact with the audience.
Even if you have by now memorized your formal talk, it's always good insurance to have the gist written out on index cards that you can hide away in a pocket. If you don't use them, consider that your insurance worked. Remember not to write the entire speech out verbatim, but just take notes on the key thoughts or make an outline to remind you.
A helpful diversion is to have a glass of water (or wine) just before the time to present. This familiar will perk up your vocal chords and distract|divert you from worrying too much. Make sure not to drink too much on either the water or the wine. Too much water will send you running to the lavatory, and too much wine will make you do and say all sorts of undesirable things. Wait until after your formal talk has completed before you celebrate.
The hardest temptation to overcome is feeling the need to rush through to get finished more quickly. If you notice that you're talking to fast or feel as if things are starting to race, stop for a second and take a deep breath. No one at the wedding expects you to be a professional, and will certainly understand if you need to take a break to pretend to look at your notes for a moment in order to change the pace.
In fact, all of the guests at the reception want to like you and want to hear what you have to say. You can prove this by telling a small joke something funny. It's fairly given that this will cause laughter, and that response is going to lift your confidence. You may find that after that first joke you are having a good time talking to a room full of people that genuinely like you. A star is born?
The best antidote to stage fright is to be prepared. If you have put some time in on composing an impressive, heartfelt presentation, you are halfway there. After you have a polished final draft in hand, you can begin practicing. The more times in advance of the day that you practice delivering it the more professional it will become. You'll find you have much of it memorized and can make some good eye contact with the audience.
Even if you have by now memorized your formal talk, it's always good insurance to have the gist written out on index cards that you can hide away in a pocket. If you don't use them, consider that your insurance worked. Remember not to write the entire speech out verbatim, but just take notes on the key thoughts or make an outline to remind you.
A helpful diversion is to have a glass of water (or wine) just before the time to present. This familiar will perk up your vocal chords and distract|divert you from worrying too much. Make sure not to drink too much on either the water or the wine. Too much water will send you running to the lavatory, and too much wine will make you do and say all sorts of undesirable things. Wait until after your formal talk has completed before you celebrate.
The hardest temptation to overcome is feeling the need to rush through to get finished more quickly. If you notice that you're talking to fast or feel as if things are starting to race, stop for a second and take a deep breath. No one at the wedding expects you to be a professional, and will certainly understand if you need to take a break to pretend to look at your notes for a moment in order to change the pace.
In fact, all of the guests at the reception want to like you and want to hear what you have to say. You can prove this by telling a small joke something funny. It's fairly given that this will cause laughter, and that response is going to lift your confidence. You may find that after that first joke you are having a good time talking to a room full of people that genuinely like you. A star is born?
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