1. Review

Read the ToastWiz speech drafts. As you're reading, answer the following questions. Your answers will be important when you edit.

• Which draft is your favorite?
• Which lines do you like the most?
• Which stories need to be improved?
• What sounds unnatural or awkward to say?
• What lines feel repetitive?

2. Edit

Pick your favorite speech and copy it to Word or Google Docs. This will be your base speech. Take your favorite lines from the other speeches and put them into your base speech replacing lines as necessary. Remove repetitive parts of the speech. Consider adding detail to your stories. Here are some helpful ideas to improve stories.

• Where were you?
• Why were you in that situation?
• What were you expecting going into the situation?
• Who else was there?
• What was everyone else doing in the situation?
• What did it feel like before? What did it feel like after?
• The Ultimate Key: What was unexpected about the story you're telling? I.e. the person is normally shy, but they are extremely outgoing at a Taylor Swift concert. Or they have a different way of doing things that is loveable and not too embarrassing. Unexpected outcomes are what make stories entertaining.

3. Practice

Once you're happy with your speech, it's time to practice. Tim Urban from Wait But Why has an excellent framework for thinking through memorizing a speech.

Essentially, there are two ways to make your speech as entertaining as possible (and not boring for your audience). Choose to either talk through a set structure or get to happy-birthday-level-memorized. If you read off a script or have it just barely memorized, it's going to be very boring for your audience.

Whatever you decide, it doesn't hurt to practice! Spend some time giving the speech in front of a mirror. Then when you're comfortable, if possible, give it to a trusted friend or family member. They can give you valuable feedback.

4. Deliver

Wedding day is here. You're prepared. You've finalized a wedding speech that you feel confident in. You've practiced the speech by yourself and given it in front of a trusted person. Go out there and knock their socks off.