There's a saying that more people are afraid of speaking in public to a group of people than they are dying. Now I don't know much about dying (thank goodness!), but I do know something about giving a good speech at a wedding! How do I know? I've been Best Man 9 (!) times. Oh, I've also been Man-of-Honor once (at my friend Devon's wedding), and have given a number of other speeches at other weddings when I wasn't even in the wedding party!

The very first time I ever gave a Best Man's speech was at my brother's wedding. It was a fancy, black-tie affair at a very fancy hotel in New York City on a Saturday night. My sister-in-law's family has a tradition of dressing up in costumes and singing a silly song at every family function. Her two sisters and brother dressed up like Carmen Miranda and sang a very funny song. I was petrified! I got up, and, off the cuff, told my sister-in-law that I was hoping that was as wonderful, smart and talented as the last person to enter my family, which was me! (I was the youngest in my family!) The crowd roared, and gave me a huge ovation! A legendary creator of television comedies was at the wedding, and told me that I had great comedic timing. I felt 10 feel tall, and confident of my future!

I will be writing a series of articles talking about some of my other best man toast experiences. What I learned that night was to be yourself, try to find something cute and witty to say, and smile alot. People will love you if you let yourself shine through!

Gregg Pasternack has been an expert at giving toasts at weddings for over 20 years.

Gregg Pasternack
October 10, 2009

Source: http://TheBestWeddingSpeeches.com

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