Sooner or later, at some point in your life, you may be called upon to speak at someone's wedding. Perhaps you'll be the proud father of the bride or someone's best man. Whatever the case may be, it can be a good idea to know how to make the appropriate wedding speech. Some people may think these points are obvious, but they're not the ones that are giving the speech. If you're not much for public speaking, you may find these tips helpful if you ever have to speak at someone's wedding.

Keep it Short:

The worst part of any wedding celebration is when some long winded buffoon drones on and on during his opportunity to make a wedding speech. No one wants to listen to your ramblings for forty minutes, no matter how interesting you may think they are.

People are at the wedding to share in the couple's joy and have a good time. No one will be able to do either if you talk for too great a length of time. Try to keep your speech under five minutes long if possible.

Save the jokes for Henny Youngman:

Public speakers often like to try and break the ice with a joke, have you ever noticed that? Have you also noticed that the jokes are usually bad? These people have professional speech writers working for them. You do not. Unless you are truly a funny person (your name is Robin Williams, for example), steer clear of the jokes. If you do have to make jokes during your wedding speech, try to make them appropriate for the occasion. Jokes about weddings in general or the people in attendance will always work better than jokes of the "a guy walks into a bar" variety. Also remember that jokes at the groom's expense are funny while those at the bride's expense are not.

That's just the way it is.

Sentimentality Works:

People get all warm, fuzzy, and gushy at weddings. Sharing sentimental stories about the couple and how in love they are, about your own wedding, or any other appropriately smarmy topic will have them eating out of your hand. Make the focus of your wedding speech the subject of love and roses and good feelings and puppies and you can't go wrong.

This Day is Not About You:

This is perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind when preparing and making a wedding speech. No matter how popular you are, no one is there to see you. The wedding day is all about the bride and groom. This is their day in the sun, so to speak. Keep your stories and anecdotes focused on the happy couple so that they can stay that way while you are speaking.

Keeping these topics in mind will help you be successful when making a wedding speech.

With the right ideas and a minimal amount of preparation, even the most tongue tangled individual can come off like The Great Orator at least for five minutes or so when speaking at a wedding.

Wedding speeches are reserved for the most important members of the wedding party and closest family and friends.

If you are one of the ones expected or asked to do a wedding speech, then preparing is a must. Winging it just won't cut it especially when your wedding speech will be on video from now until eternity.

Wedding speeches should not last more than three or four minutes. It reminds me of that famous quote by John F. Kennedy, "Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary."

It's actually much harder to do a short wedding speech than a long one which reminds me of another quote, "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." --Mark Twain

You have to have an opening and closing. You probably want to throw in a story and at least one piece of humor. And it all has to make sense. Please, please, please don't apologize for how bad you are as soon as you stand up, which reminds me of yet another quote by Kin Hubbard, "Why doesn't the fellow who says, "I'm no speechmaker," let it go at that instead of giving a demonstration?" hahaha I love that one.

Here's a quick outline for a wedding speech:

Note: each one of the bullet points below could have many variations

Opening

* Could be comments about the lovely affair
* Comments about the bride and groom
* Story about your interactions with the bride, groom or both.

Humor

* Pick something that applies to them and is appropriate

Closing

* Something touching

Toast

–* Brief and touching or funny

You'll rarely be the hit of a wedding because of your wedding speech and rightfully so. The bride and groom are the stars. But poor preparation of your wedding speech certainly could make you the laughing stock.

Remember, you are going to perform your wedding speech live, but you'll be on video forever. Take the time to prepare.

If you're planning a wedding or planning on being in one, then the question of wedding speeches is bound to come up.

Who gives the speeches

Well, this is really up to the couple that's getting married, but there seems to be a normal list of people that are expected to say something.

The wedding party usually has the most members talking about the bride or the groom. The Best Man and Matron or Maid of Honor are the ones that will be giving short speeches before dinner in most cases. Other members of the party can also speak if the couple chooses.

The father of the bride usually gives a speech to the guests, thanking them for coming as well as saying a word or two to the groom. The couple themselves may also want to talk to the guests, giving them thanks and their love.

Of course, the reception isn't the only place for speeches. Many times, the wedding rehearsal has one or two of the couple's parents speaking as well.

As many people as the couple wants can speak, but what if you're the one that's asked?

Before you stand up

If you're asked to give a speech, no doubt you're nervous and at a loss for what to say. The best advice is to keep your speech short and simple, so that your nerves don't have time to take over and so that your creativity isn't sapped.

Make a list of all of the things that you admire and love about the couple or half of the couple. If you've been friends for a while, you may want to include a joke or a story. The best advice is to keep the story clean though—their parents may not want to know what they've done.

Talk about the person and then end with some sort of revelation or note of congratulation. Raise your glass and toast the couple. It's really as easy as that.

If you're afraid that you'll become nervous, make sure that you rehearse the speech often, writing it well in advance. Or you can just focus on your friend as you give the speech and avoid making eye contact out into the reception crowd.

Speeches are a wonderful way to give thanks to the guest and to members of the new couple. Use your heart as a guide, and you're sure to get it right.

If you're not used to public speaking, then making a wedding speech can be very daunting. With this in mind, I have prepared a few important tips to help you overcome your nerves and deliver a great wedding speech.

1. Remember these people are on your side. They aren't secretly hoping you'll mess things up. The reason you're there giving a speech is because you are connected with the people there, and so are the audience. Bearing this in mind, you can rest assured that anything you say in your wedding speech will be listened to and respected fully.

Also, people listening to speeches at weddings are wanting to laugh as this breaks the tension. So any vague attempt of a joke will get you a response.

2. Practice your wedding speech thoroughly. The more your practice, the less nervous you'll feel on the actual day. Remember to practice the intonation of your voice and the pauses. By showing you've put effort into your preparation, any mistakes you may make on the day will be easily forgiven.

3. Learn your speech by heart. Whenever you have some spare time, 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. 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. Practice where you'll take a breath in the speech, and learn 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.

5. Think of a funny story before you stand up. Nothing so funny that you loose you focus, but something mildly titillating that will bring a smile to your face. This will loosen you up, and give a nice energy to your wedding speech that will improve the delivery immensely.

6. Have a banana 20 minutes before you make your speech. This tip is often used by professional public speakers, and helps the nerves of many people. It also gives a nice energy boost which helps reduce your nerves.

7. Speak slowly and clearly. If you are nervous, you will feel the urge to speed up and your speech will become unclear. So try to consciously slow yourself down and speak clear so people can hear what you say.

8. Make eye contact with people in the audience so it feels like your just chatting with everyone who is there.

9. Lastly, remember to simply enjoy yourself! Your life isn't going to end if you make a few mistakes...and it will be over in just a few minutes. Have fun!