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Include Gestures | Wedding Speech Tip #31 | Evermoore Films | If possible, set down your glass while speaking. Use your free hand to make gestures to keep the audience captivated. Then grab your glass to toast.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out how to give a flowing speech to an audience of a hundred. Sometimes it’s those little details that need to be planned out to the “T”. You think, you plan, but you just can’t predict the future. However, you can plan for the future. Most likely, if you are giving a speech at a wedding, you will have one of two choices.

  1. You will either have to hold the mic in your hand OR
  2. You will walk up to a free-standing mic and have both hands free.

Let’s look at the possibilities of what you can do with your two hands during a toast…

  1. Hold the mic in one hand, hold your toasting glass in your other hand.
    • CON: No hand to gesture with!
    • PRO: No hand to fiddle with!
  2. Hold the mic in one hand, set your toasting glass on a nearby table, and gesture with your other hand.
    • CON: Possible awkward pause if the table is far away.
    • PRO: You have a free hand to be more animated with.
  3. Walk up to the mic and hold your toasting glass in one hand, with the other hand free to gesture.
    • CON: You only have one hand to be free instead of two and might still feel restricted.
    • PRO: You have everything with you!
  4. Walk up to the mic, set your toasting glass on a nearby table, and gesture with one hand while you hold your written speech in the other.
    • CON: So many things to remember!
    • PRO: Everything is planned out and as long as you practice you’ll look as smooth as a pro!

Now I’m sure there are other possibilities and combinations of the above, but stop and think about it and plan out how you will give your wedding speech so that your preparedness can help the wedding reception go even better!