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.

My posts on short funny Best Man speeches and more recently my post on example toasts for a short Best Man speech hint at why I believe they are the best type of speech for a Best Man to deliver. They work well for so many reasons, here we look at some of the factors why they have such a good effect on the wedding guests and how to create some perfect short Best Man speeches.

From the wedding guests perspective.

1. Sometimes less is more.

The wedding guests want to hear short Best Man speeches that are both funny and loving, this can easily be achieved in a speech from 3 minutes upwards don’t risk making the mistake of giving a long speech that lacks impact due to too much content.

2. The guests want to be entertained not listening to long speeches.

Hard as it is for some Best Men to believe but there is more to the wedding day for those in attendance other than listening to speeches. They want to be chatting, dancing, drinking and mingling with each other so bear this in mind when crafting your speech.

3. Short Best Man speeches last longer in the memory.

A short Best Man speech with an engaging icebreaker, some complimentary words, a couple of funny Best Man jokes, some warm childhood memories and an uplifting toast will be remembered for all the right reasons once the wedding day has passed.

From the Best Man’s perspective.

1. Even accomplished public speakers crumble under the pressure of giving a long Best Man speech.

Nothing can truly prepare you for the moment when you have to stand to give your speech, do yourself the ultimate favor by not making things more difficult for yourself by avoiding a long speech.

2. With less lines to remember, the Best Man can focus on the delivery of his/her Best Man speech.

The delivery of a wedding speech is all-important so by creating a short Best Man speech you have less lines to remember allowing you time to focus on the delivery which will ensure you give a confident Best Man speech.

3. A funny short Best man speech will have the guests laughing and standing as one to applaud at the end.

Humor is a vital component of a Best Man speech and should be used at various stages of your speech, short Best Man jokes work best, along with perhaps one funny story about the groom and a hilarious Best Man prop before ending with a heartfelt toast to the Bride and Groom.

It is important to be in a relaxed frame of mind before you give your Best Man toast, so ensure that you do no make things harder for yourself with a long speech, instead deliver a memorable short Best Man speech and bask in the glory thereafter.

Getting the length of a Best Man speech right is very important in order to wow the wedding guests. If your speech comes across as being too short then you run the risk of showing a preparation which will not sit well with those listening whereas on the other hand if you speak for too long then you may bore those listening. A great short Best Man speech should last around 3 minutes, this gives you enough time to do the essentials along with allowing time for a few Best Man jokes, funny wedding anecdotes before ending with a great Best Man toast.

If you are giving a short speech make sure that your toast is not a rushed one as it is (along with icebreakers for a short Best Man speech) the most important words of the day. The 3 toasts outlined below would be fitting endings to short Best Man speeches so choose one relevant to your style of speech. Be aware that just because you are giving a funny speech does not necessarily mean you need to give a funny toast, likewise by giving a sincere speech you are not restricted to giving a sincere toast. It is perfectly fine to have a healthy balance of both sincerity and humor in your Best Man speech.

Irish Best Man Toast.

May your pockets be heavy and your hearts be light, may good luck follow you each morning and every night.

Funny Best Man Toast.

Here’s to the Bride and Groom may they remember the secrets to a happy marriage; a good sense of humor and a short memory.

Sincere Best Man Toast.

Here’s to a Bride so fare and a Groom so true, may love and laughter surround everything that they do.

Practice delivering your toast out load at home or wherever you can, so that when you are giving your speech your toast comes across in a clear distinct manner. I would not expect you to deliver the whole speech from memory but do memorize the toasting element of your speech so you can concentrate at looking at the wedding guests as you speak.

When giving a short Best Man speech it is important to stick to the correct format of a Best Man speech, as you do not want to omit anything important from your speech. You can save time by cutting back on stories from the Groom’s childhood or by replacing long-winded jokes with short funny Best Man jokes.