Wedding Speeches for Women: The Girls' Own Guide to Giving a Speech They'll Remember [Paperback]

More and more women are giving speeches at weddings today - even within the most traditional of cultures. And it's not just a case of "saying a few words." Whether you're the bride, bridesmaid, mother, grandmother, sister, friend or colleague, you want your speech to be meaningful...memorable...something everyone present will cherish forever. "Wedding Speeches For Women" is any woman's complete handbook to devising and presenting a wedding speech to remember. In it, you'll find all you need to know about how to: understand where your speech fits into the day; prepare and write your speech; make it work for you, not just the audience; choose content that's perfect for the occasion and individuals; pick a speech structure and approach from a selection of ideas; choose from a wide range of joke concepts; find good, poignant quotations; select or even write a poem for the occasion; overcome nervousness or "stage fright"; and benefit from professionals' presentation tips and tricks.

"Wedding Speeches For Women" is any woman's complete handbook to devising and presenting a wedding speech to remember. In it you'll find all you need to know about how to:

Understand where your speech fits into the day
Prepare and write your speech
Make it work for you, not just the audience
Choose content that's perfect for the occasion and individual
Pick a speech structure and approach from a selection of ideas
Choose from a wide range of joke concepts
Find good, poignant quotations
Select or even write a poem for the occasion
Overcome nervousness or stage fright
Benefit from professionals' presentation tips and tricks

Suzan St Maur has written literally hundreds of speeches for a wide variety of speakers from "captains of industry" to famous actors to private individuals making speeches at weddings, bar mitzvahs and other important family celebrations. She also writes jokes for some well-known TV personalities in the UK. In "Wedding Speeches For Women" Suzan and her expert friends share advice, techniques, tricks, tips, resources and reassurance gathered from many years' helping speakers of all standards to make successful speeches … and enjoy it!

If you have to give a speech at a wedding – or are thinking about doing it – my book will help you not only devise and deliver a good speech, but will help you get over all the potential difficulties and hiccups that you might encounter. (The book will also help you to give a great speech at any other occasion too, business or personal.)

I am an experienced speechwriter, but I know my limitations – so for this book I went out and did some serious research to make sure I included advice and guidance that covers every aspect of the whole thing.

For starters, I interviewed drama coach and teacher Gail Cornish, who gave us loads of fascinating information and advice specifically for women speakers, and lots of professional actresses' tips on how to rehearse, warm up, and deliver your speech superbly.

There are also excerpts from best-selling books by presentations skills experts like Phil Calvert and Doctor Simon Raybould, with some unusual and highly effective tips on how to make a great speech.

I have contributed all my own skills of how to go about preparing, devising and writing your speech, practical tips on things like cue cards, using a microphone, etc., as well as accessories like how to write a poem, how to deliver and/or adapt a joke, how to use quotations, and quite a few other strategies that work really well. I've included content idea triggers and skeleton structures for just about any woman speaker from the bride herself to her granny. And in the back of the book are literally hundreds of jokes, quotations, poems, and references to other useful books and websites.

Finally, I interviewed a number of women who already have the experience of making a speech either at their own weddings, or those of others. Their advice and tips - which they share with us in the book - are invaluable.

I hope you find this book useful; I think you probably will. If once you've read it you still have a question you'd like to ask me, drop me an email - the address is in the book. I can't write your speech for you for free, because my accountant would kill me! However I'm more than happy to give you whatever advice I can in general terms, FOC.

All good wishes for a fantastic speech!

Suzan St Maur has written literally hundreds of speeches for a wide variety of speakers from "captains of industry" to famous actors to private individuals making speeches at weddings, bar mitzvahs and other important family celebrations. She coaches speakers in presentation techniques, and writes jokes for some well-known UK TV personalities.