The Nude Audience: Minimizing Stage Fright During Your Best Mans Speech

There are a variety of ways you can reduce stage fright. Probably the best thing you can do is be prepared. By being prepared, you can walk into your best man speechs with confidence, knowing that you have what you want to say and you can say it well. A good way to do this is to practice in the mirror. Close your eyes and pretend you're in the reception hall, take a deep breath, and start. If you need to, start by only saying little pieces at a time, then gradually build up to the whole speech. Once you have practiced the whole speech, do it again and try not to stop. If you get stuck, do your best to finish calmly and with feeling. By preparing for a mistake, you can be ready for the worst case scenario, and probably even avoid one altogether.

Look online for some breathing exercises that will help you relax. They are a physically proven quick stress reliever that can reduce tension and slow your heart rate. Breathing is important during your speech. If you have to consciously stop to take a breath, it is okay. No one will even notice. Although you feel like you have all eyes on you, you're not being judged as closely as you think you are. Relax your muscles; you don't want to look like a talking statue. Just be yourself! That's the reason you were chosen to be a Best Man at the wedding after all.

Move around a little bit, but avoid pacing. Picture the natural way a comedian looks on stage. A few sips of a drink can calm you down and reduce your nervousness a little. However, do NOT drink too much. Saying your speech while drunk, while it may be funny, will only result in embarrassment for yourself as well as the couple and will leave the groom feeling disrespected. Don't let your nerves bait you into drinking too much.

Many people have issues with what do with their hands when they're speaking. If you want to keep something in one of your hands, don't make it very noticeable. You don't want people focusing on what you're holding instead of your speech. Try a rolled up paper towel. It's a quick sweat absorber and can easily be kept out of sight. It's a good idea to keep a glass of water around, but holding it in your hand may not be a good idea, unless you've practice with it. If you get focused on something besides your drink and accidentally wave your hands, you could accidentally send water launching at the Bride. A quick sip no and then provides a good timeout during your speech, but you want to retain its flow, so don't interrupt it with water too much.

While you're speaking, look directly above the audience as opposed to making eye contact with everyone. You don't need to actually make eye contact if it looks like you are. As you're looking directly above the heads of the audience, scan the back of the room with your eyes. Avoid looking down at the floor, and avoid looking up at the ceiling. Engage the audience with your speech, don't just talk at them. Pretend you're at home practicing your best man wedding speeches in the mirror or just talking to the Groom one-on-one. Although this sounds a lot easier to say than to actually do, it's actually pretty easy. Take a couple seconds before you start talking to gather yourself and get "in the zone." Honestly, it's alright to take your time. No one will even notice. Five seconds might feel like an unbearably long time, but it's only five seconds. Give yourself a little ego-boost: you were chosen out of all the people the Groom knows to be his Best Man. Most people go their entire lives without getting to perform a best man wedding speeches. You, out of everyone, get to represent the Groom as his best friend, father, or son. So be proud of yourself.