Did your best friend (brother, close friend, cousin, father, etc.
) just ask you to be his best man? Then you may already be feeling a mixture of the following: o Honored because he chose you fulfill this tremendous position out of all the people he knows.
o Pressured because you have no idea on what to do as a best man.
o Petrified because you hate speaking in front of a crowd and now you have to make a toast in front of relatives, loved ones and in front of the people catering your best friend's wedding.
The first feeling is a wonderful emotion so you can frolic in this sensation for all you want.
But for the last two emotions, get a grip! You are not the one who is about to have a life changing event.
Your best friend is and you are just there to be his main man, his best man.
Actually, feeling pressured is a very valid feeling to undergo but as mentioned earlier, you have to get a hold of yourself because you do not have time to wallow in this sensation.
Why? Because you need all the time you can get in making your best man's speech.
Here are some things that you need to AVOID in making that toast for the bride and the groom.
o A very common problem in a best man's speech is that it usually revolves around the groom.
Granted that you may know more about the groom than the bride, that does not mean you scrimp on details about her.
Ask a bridesmaid, particularly the maid of honor, for some help on this part.
She will most likely be more than happy to help.
o Do not use jokes that you will not say in front of grade school kids.
Weddings are usually family events which means nieces and nephews who have not gotten "the birds and the bees" talk with their parents are also attending the event.
Do not make them ask unpleasant questions to their parents after your speech.
o Never, ever upstage the newly weds.
Yes you want to deliver a powerful and even heart warming toast but that does not give you the license to be the star of the entire show.
o Do not forget to add in your speech the parts where you have to pause for laughter or reactions from the audience.
o A best man's speech should get all the names of the people you plan to mention right.
There is nothing worse than saying the ex's name in place of the bride's name.
o Which brings us to another point; do not mention any ex-girlfriend stories! It may be hilarious if you talk about it during the bachelor's party but the bride will be giving you dagger eyes for the rest of the night if you do say something about the ex.