Hi.  I'm Aaron Wheeler.  I work for a large fortune 500 corparation.  Because of the nature of my work, I have to give speeches all the time.  Over the last 3 years or so, I've been invited to attend several black tie events for my job as well as to speek about 7 times at my friend's and collegues weddings.  People question me all the time if I can relate to them how the heck to give a knock-out wedding speech.  Eventually, after friends of mine kept saying "you need to write a book on this topic or something", they convinced me to put together a web site.  I called that bluff, and here you are.  I hope to give you the best of the tips and tricks I've learned from years of giving speeches .  Hopefully they'll help you in getting ready for any major days like these in the future.

 

The Wedding Toast

You might end up feeling surprised when you think of how simple a toast seems to give when you are thinkning about it, but how tough it really is when it's time to go to it.  That's what we'll try to avoid, so you can have the best chance for a great toast possible.  Whenever this sort of thing happens when I'm chatting with people, most of them remark “it's nothing.  I can give  toast like nobody's business,” which most people can, whether they know it or not, but you DO need to practice first.  You actually can do a good toast off the top of your head, and I recommend you do if you think you can, but even those of us who are more comfortable with speaking need to know that at least we have to practice by running the basic structure of our toasts through in our heads before hand.  I know a lot of people who admit that they put off practice until the night of the toast, likely in the car on their way to the event.  What makes us procrastinate like this?  Fear.  

A toast is like a hello and farewell wrapped into the same little mini-speech.  It’s usually given at the best of times, and it lets everyone there know that there's something in the person you’re toasting that you appreciate.  Many are a kind of well-wishing for the future, after whichever special event of the day is over, and send off the person with the best of luck .

 

Q:  What if they don’t laugh?

A:  You don't need them to.  Some try to make their toast a funny thing, but get a little nervous that the crowd won't see it as such.  If you’re not the most experienced at public speaking in the world, my advice is not to try to bring the house down when it comes to being funny.  Something that comes from your heart will be much more memorable and appreciated.  Only attempt to get really comedic if you’re comfortble with the idea, thanks to your past experience, or it's your natural personality.

 

Here's my formula for a great toast:  It’s all of these 3 things wrapped together in this order:  a look back at good times together, a look to the future that is bright, and a tribute to good luck.  To see a detailed structure of the above, come see my website on Wedding Speeches and Toasts.

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