The long-standing tradition of the Groom’s Best Man delivering a Best Man toast at his wedding is a tradition that continues to cause anxiety for Best Men around the world. Best Man toasts are expected to conjure up sentiments of friendship, love and of course be funny enough for everyone to enjoy without being offended, so it is no easy task.

There is also the added burden of delivering your Best Man toast in front of a large audience to take into account, so it is little wonder that so many people turn to the internet to get some great sample Best Man toasts written by professional speechwriters to ease their worries.

Help is at hand for Best Men and though I can’t physically be at your wedding to deliver your Best Man toasts, I can do the next best thing and put the words in your mouth. There is nothing like captivating your audience and hearing the wedding guests roar on their approval through your witty comments, funny stories and the all-important Best Man toast that completes your speech. You will be confident, funny, complimentary and unforgettable as you deliver a speech that will be adored by all.

Gone are the days of simply raising your glass and urging everyone else to do likewise, nowadays your speech should last for about 3 minutes and finish with a rousing toast at the end. From the minute you open your mouth as you begin your speech you will be faced by an expectant crowd of guests anticipating witty remarks, Groom put-downs, loving stories about the couple, stories about your friendship with the Groom, some funny Best Man jokes and the Best Man toast to cap it all off.

It is also worth bearing in mind that as some of your friends will also be guests at the wedding you may some harsh critics waiting for just one slip-up so they can try to heckle you which why I have some great responses to hecklers provided so you are as prepared as you can be for what will be a wonderful day.

With the material available in instant download you will have them at your fingertips in seconds allowing you to sit back, relax and use the time you have left before the wedding to embrace the atmosphere, enjoy the rehearsal dinner and other pre-wedding events and suddenly become a very enthusiastic Best Man rather than a nervous one.

The duties of a Best Man go beyond delivering a toast and acting as the Groom’s witness at his wedding ceremony, there are many other duties expected of you so to help you be best prepared the following is a guide to the tasks you should be doing one week before the wedding day.

1. Check with the Groom who is picking-up the suits.

Make sure that you are clear on who is arranging the collection of the wedding suits, and double-check with the Groomsmen to see if anyone wants to be refitted, so they are dressed comfortably for the wedding.

2. Be aware of the venue for the wedding rehearsal and ensure guests have directions to it.

If out of town guests are coming to the wedding rehearsal, it is a nice gesture to call/email them with directions to the venue.

3. Have a toast ready to give at the rehearsal dinner.

This is just a short toast in honor of the Bride and Groom and should not be confused with the main Best Man speech which you give on the wedding day.

4. Call the various wedding vendors to confirm the wedding details.

It is well worth your time to call each of the various wedding vendors such as the photographer, the limo driver, and DJ to reconfirm times and ensure there are no hiccups on the big day.

5. Know who wants to speak at the wedding.

If you are acting as M.C then you need to know who plans on giving a speech at the wedding, so in order to properly rehearse your introductions ensure you are aware of this information.

6. Spend time perfecting your Best Man speech.

The week of the wedding is not the time to begin making changes to your speech, so spend the time practicing the delivery of your speech so it gains maximum impact.

7. Get plenty of rest.

As Best Man you will find the wedding day an extremely busy day with an onslaught of activity from the moment you wake up, so do yourself the ultimate favor and get as much rest as possible during the week of the wedding.

It is important for to discuss with the Groom who is doing what so that there is no crossover and you can delegate some duties to the Groomsmen in order to save time or to help them feel more included in the occasion.

Having already looked at icebreakers for short Best Man speeches today I provide you with the best methods to ensure you captivate the wedding guest’s attention when telling some stories during your short Best Man speech. As ever no mention of former wives or girlfriends is vital and offensive stories should play no part in your Best Man speech if you want to win over the wedding guests. The following hooks are great because the wedding guests will be intrigued and, as curiosity gets the better of them, they will be waiting with baited breath to hear what you have to say next. In the 4 examples below we use “John” as our Groom and “Jane” as the Bride.

This is something I’ve told nobody until now…

Here is an opportunity to add some fun to proceedings so follow up with something like “but I once saw John dressed like a woman, though it was Halloween and we were innocent 12 year olds trick or treating.”

Here is a little known fact about John…

This is a chance to comment about his love for the Bride so complete this line by saying “on the Bachelor Party he spent half his day sending text messages to Jane, the rest of the day he was on the phone talking with her.”

I promised John I’d never tell anyone this but…

An opener like this will have the Groom mortified and the guests in expectant mood eager to hear to the rest so don’t let them down, follow up with “he once was in trouble with Jane because of the law, she wanted to watch Grey’s Anatomy but he wanted to watch Law And Order.”

Want to hear an embarrassing story about John?…

Continue this by stating “the hardest aspect is picking which story to tell but I will begin with the time we were in College and we had an assignment to give a 5 minute presentation about something we were most passionate about, while some classmates spoke about world peace or animal rights, John promptly gave a 5 minute speech about the topic he was most passionate about of all, himself.”

Other great hooks that you can use include;

What I am about to reveal about John will probably impact our friendship forever nonetheless…

John once told me…

There is one thing that John asked me not to mention in my speech but…

The lines discussed here should not tempt you to say anything that will jeopardize your friendship with groom, lighthearted funny Best Man stories work a lot better than roasts that will be unappreciated by many.

If you want the stress taken away from your Best Man worries then grab some great short Best Man speeches that will make you sound like you have been delivering speeches all your life.