Content & Ideas For Wedding Speeches

PowerPoint and wedding speeches

Be brave. Stand behind your words not a data projector.

There has been a growing trend in recent years for wedding speeches to be accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, either with video or 'amusing' photos of the wedding couple in their youth. Whilst the nervous speaker may feel that this will provide a comforting prop, they do a speech no favours, and give the impression that the speaker is not confident in either the content or delivery of their speech and requires something to hide behind.

Such artificial aids are to be avoided if you want to make an entertaining and well received speech. Think about the entertaining comedians or speechmakers you have seen previously. How many of them needed to rely on anything other than a microphone to keep you interested? Trying to introduce a computer and a projector into a speech just adds another layer of complexity you don't need, along with the risk of the technology breaking down and ruining the moment, or putting you off your stride completely. The audience are also likely to have seen many pictures of the bride and groom before, so try to think instead of heartfelt anecdotes that will be new to most, or that illustrate the couple's characters in a way with which everyone can identify.

While it's understandable to be nervous about making a wedding speech, please resist the urge to fall back on a slide show. Concentrate instead on finding interesting and entertaining things to say about the happy couple; paint your pictures with words rather than pixels. No-one is expecting an Oscar winning level of performance; be amusing, interesting and concise and everyone will enjoy themselves. Even if you aren't a naturally confident speaker, being sure of your material and keeping just a few key points in mind will make for the most interesting and entertaining speech, rather than plugging in a PC.