Wednesday, October 28, 2009

9 Easy Ways to Overcome Your Wedding Speech Nerves Easily

Let's face it, not everyone is used to public speaking. Those who aren't will likely find that making a wedding speech can be very daunting task. Bearing that in mind, I will share a few important tips that toastmasters use that will help you overcome your nerves and deliver a great wedding speech.
1. Remember that the audience is on your side. They want you to succeed and aren't secretly hoping you'll mess things up. When you are on the podium, you have a connection with the people there, i.e. the audience. With this in mind, you can rest assured that everything you say in your wedding speech will garner the full attention of those in the audience and will be respected fully.
You should also rest assured that people listening to speeches at weddings are wanting to laugh. So any vague attempt of a joke will get you a response as this breaks the tension.
2. Practice your wedding speech properly and thoroughly. Remember the saying 'Practice makes Perfect'. So, the more you practice, the less nervous you will be on the actual day. The practice you put in should be focused on the intonation of your voice and the pauses in between. By showing you've put effort into your preparation, any mistakes you may make on the day will be easily forgiven and the audience will love you for it.
3. Learn your speech by heart. Whatever spare time you may have, where ever you may be, be it in the car on the way to work, in the shower or wherever...practice your speech. Repeat it over and over again as many times as you can before the big day, even better if you have a small audience like friends. It will help you tremendously and you will feel much calmer on the big day as you'll know the whole speech inside out.
4. Remember to breathe. As simple as this sounds, it is often overlooked and people tend to lose focus and become terribly nervous. Practice where you'll take a breath in the speech, breathe deeply when possible and learn how to breathe correctly. Diaphragmatic breathing, as used by singers and public speakers, will help you here. If you're unfamiliar with this, a quick search on Google will show you how to achieve this properly.
5. Think of a funny story before you stand up which would help you lose some of the nervousness. Nothing overly funny that will cause you to lose focus, but something mildly tickling that will bring a smile to your face. This will loosen you up and give a nice boost to your wedding speech and add that extra spring in your step which will in turn improve the delivery immensely.
6. Eat a banana approximately 20 minutes before you make your speech. This known secret is often used by professional public speakers and helps calm the nerves of many people. It also gives a nice energy boost which helps reduce your nerves.
7. Speak slowly and clearly to allow the audience to understand your speech. If you get nervous, you will tend to feel the urge to speed up your delivery and your speech will become unclear and will just become mumbled garbage to the audience. To prevent this, try to consciously slow yourself down and speak clearly so people can hear and understand what you say.
8. Make eye contact with people in the audience so it feels like you are just chatting with everyone who is there.
9. Lastly, remember to enjoy yourself! Giving a speech is a privilege and your life isn't going to end if you make a few mistakes...and it will be over in just a few minutes. Good luck and have fun!
Discover how easy it is for you to overcome your fears and to be in the limelight. Making an excellent speech isn't impossible and doesn't have to be a chore. Get your FREE wedding speech builder at http://www.agoodspeech.com and get started immediately!

No comments:

Post a Comment