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Bestman Speech

  • 01-07-2009 8:52pm
    #1
    fitzyshea
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 285 ✭✭


    Help!

    Im bestman for my brother in 3 weeks! Problem is that there is a ten year gap between us, he lives in another country and he has lived there for over 15 years, all this means that I dont know what to say in the speech! I barely know his bride and now Im beginning to wonder why he asked me to be bestman in the first place.

    Dont get me wrong I am honored to be his bestman its just I dont know what to say.

    Is it ok to make a very short speech??


Comments

  • #2
    marty1985
    Registered Users Posts: 788 ✭✭✭marty1985


    Hi

    I was in a similar situation a few months ago, i was best man for my brother and there's about 8 years of an age gap.
    I would advise you not to worry. You can keep the speech short and sincere, but not too short. Are you afraid of public speaking or is it that you just really dont know what to say? There are loads of books you can buy with jokes and tips on what to say. Do a search online. One thing is for certain, you'll have a good audience. The only person who will be taking it very seriously is you, everyone else will have had a few drinks and the mood will be relaxed so dont worry.


  • #3
    fitzyshea
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 285 ✭✭fitzyshea


    marty1985 wrote: »
    Hi

    I was in a similar situation a few months ago, i was best man for my brother and there's about 8 years of an age gap.
    I would advise you not to worry. You can keep the speech short and sincere, but not too short. Are you afraid of public speaking or is it that you just really dont know what to say? There are loads of books you can buy with jokes and tips on what to say. Do a search online. One thing is for certain, you'll have a good audience. The only person who will be taking it very seriously is you, everyone else will have had a few drinks and the mood will be relaxed so dont worry.

    No its not the public speaking bit its just the lack of detail! Have checked out a few websites so hopefully can get something from there.


  • #4
    Spiderman80884
    Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭Spiderman80884


    fitzyshea wrote: »
    No its not the public speaking bit its just the lack of detail! Have checked out a few websites so hopefully can get something from there.

    A little tip I would say is to have a chat with his parents. Sometimes they can remember some seriously good stuff about him when he was a kid. I did best man for my brother and my mam was a veritable encyclopedia of info on my bro. When he was my best man my mam gave him a letter I wrote when I was no more than 7 or 8, apologising for stabbing my brother with a fork. I don't know how he finished the speech after that, nearly every guest was on the floor laughing.

    Another tip I would say is to stay away from a slide show. It stalls the speech too much and if it breaks down (which I have seen) it kills the speech.

    Most important though is to be honest, give time for the guests to digest what you are saying so don't rush and if you get them laughing, wait till they've finished.

    Best of luck!

    Btw, the average best man's speech is 13 minutes apparently (heard that today on Tom Dunnes Radio Show).


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