It’s that time again. Wedding bells are ringing. You’re friend or brother or cousin or uncle or other related or unrelated individual got engaged ages ago. And you were selected as the best man. You were so excited to be The Chosen One! You fast forwarded past the boring wedding planning stage and started preparing the agenda for the ultimate bachelor party. That weekend came and went and before you knew it, you were standing in front of a crowd of hundreds, maybe thousands, of people. All eyes fixated towards you as you began your best man speech. At Ethos3, we believe that presentations extend far beyond the typical situations – a sales pitch or informational meeting – and reach into our personal lives. The best man speech represents one of these moments. Here are four elements and tactics you could wield in your best man speech:
1. Stream of consciousness
In the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hugh Grant takes on the role as a best man. He opens his speech with a little bit of humor, but took a mostly stream of consciousness approach – changing his pacing and tone when he returns to more serious and thoughtful content. Finally, Hugh’s character ends the speech with a reference to a line he spoke during the stream of consciousness phase to wrap it all up for the audience.
2. Surprise
The following best man speech displayed a perfect use of the element of surprise. He begins his talk by saying the following: “There comes a time in everyone’s life when they meet their one true love, their soulmate, the person that is going to know and love them for the rest of their life.” When you watch the video, you are expecting him to mention the bride. Instead, the best man says this: “That moment came for George 25 years ago when he met me.”
3. Brevity
The best man speech below, given by the groom’s brother, basically tells the crowd the typical sibling rivalry story. But, the best man continues his talk with a description of his relationship with the bride and how it has changed for the better since they first met. At the end, he adds a dose of humor with a statement about how his relationship with his brother is pretty much the same – big brother torturing little brother. The real magic of this speech, however, is its brevity. Only about 2 minutes and 30 seconds long, this best man speech utilizes a powerful narrative in a short amount of time – demonstrating respect for the attention spans of his audience.
4. Humor
The best man in the video below, Ryan Garcia, incorporated humor into his speech through a variety of methods. A personal story being one of the many methods he employed. Starting at the 56 second mark, Ryan delves into the story of how he and the groom met. A simple story makes any presenter – or in this case, best man – seem more relatable and intriguing.
As William Shakespeare wrote, “all the world’s a stage.” From the introductory job interview and the corporate sales pitch to the nerve-wrecking best man speech. A deeper knowledge of the pivotal parts of a presentation is capable of empowering even the most terrified of best men to pull off a speech worth remembering. Need more help with your best man presentation? Check out the following resources:
The Secrets of Unforgettable Presentations
The Ultimate Best Man’s Speech Template: lessons from a serial wingman
