Most people who have to do it dread it. We’re talking about having to get up at the wedding and make a speech.

Public speaking can be very frightening, particularly if you have never done it before. But this isn’t the only reason why keeping your wedding speech short and sweet is a good idea.

For starters everyone wants to get on and enjoy themselves. It’s nice to hear from some of the key people at the wedding but once the speeches start going on and on with no sign of an ending, people will get fidgety and bored. For this reason alone you should keep a speech nice and short, so you can get your message across and then let the celebrations continue.

Unfortunately some people feel that unless a speech goes on for a while, it isn’t worth saying it in the first place. This isn’t true and in fact you could lose your audience if you go on for too long. This in turn will make you feel uncomfortable and you will wonder whether to curtail it or carry on until the bitter end.

If you stick to a short wedding speech you will probably be less nervous about giving the speech too. If you know you will only be standing up and speaking for a couple of minutes, you won’t get so het up about it.

A quick and easy speech is also easier to remember. You should always have clear notes to read from too, as this will make it easier to go through the speech without stumbling or forgetting anything. Don’t write down the whole speech – if it is short enough you should be able to limit yourself to just a few bullet points. List the people you need to thank for example, and perhaps jot down a couple of lines to thank the whole congregation for attending as well.

Having a quick and easy speech also means not having anything too difficult to say. Choose short and easy to pronounce words – you will have a much easier time if you do. Practise it often as well; you should be able to say most of it without looking down at your notes. Notes are just that – mere reminders of what you are there to say in case you forget. You shouldn’t have your head in a bit of paper the whole time, and the shorter the speech is the less likely it is that you will forget much of it anyway. Rehearsals will help in this respect too.

As you can see there are lots of ways you can find to make the prospect of making a speech easier. Keeping things short is just one way of making sure it goes well. And since everyone will be wanting to get on with the proper celebrations, there is no point in going for the world’s longest speech. Everyone will wish you hadn’t done so – including you.



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