Speak Easy and Carry a Big Stick - Review of Wedding Speeches

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is a great new series of e-books on the market designed to give you not only the tips you need in writing that do-or-die speech on the wedding day, but also a wealth of face-saving tips in planning the event of your life.

The books are split into several sections, making it easy to use as a quick reference tool. For example, in the “Roles and Responsibilities” section of the Groom book, there is a great general outline of some of the responsibilities that the groom may want or need to take on. The strong point here is that the book is written in flexible language, knowing full well that all couples, no matter how traditional, will want to stamp their wedding with their own unique style and manner. The best of this section highlights what may seem to be obvious, but in fact is something that many couples overlook — the need to communicate with each other, and the other attending helpers so that there is “no overlap” in planning. Anyone who has assisted in planning a wedding knows that this is key. You don't want two different bands to be hired by two different people, for example.

Many couples get stilted during the wedding planning process because of mishaps that are caused by miscommunication, assumptions made, and the like. This is, of course, totally natural. A wedding is a huge event to plan, and often the bride and groom are not event organizers by trade, so it takes a lot of patience, coordination and open dialogue for the wedding to go off “without a hitch.” The series definitely stresses all the major points, as general guidelines, to keep future brides and grooms (as well as the entire wedding party!) on the right track.

The series is great in that not only does it assist all those who might be asked to speak at the wedding: the bride, the groom, the maid of honor, etc., it also includes a list of tasks (in each book for each member of the bridal party) that can be applied to most weddings. Even if some of the notes in this section do not apply to your wedding, it will get the wheels churning, sparking creative ideas and reminders of important tasks that you will not want to forget, such as planning for the honeymoon, gift ideas for the groomsmen and bridesmaids, and food selection.

The bulk of the series, as one can glean from the title, deals with the giving of a wedding speech, which can be a nerve-wracking experience for any person who is not experienced at speaking in public. Wedding Speeches 4U is extremely helpful in giving general public speaking tips such as lengthy preparation, practice, timing, and sincerity. Although to many of us, these speaking tips may seem like common knowledge, anyone who has ever sweated over talking in front of an audience knows you can never hear this advice enough. And unlike other pieces on public speaking which can sometimes be a bit patronizing, the advice given here is in a friendly, understanding tone which will be sure to calm the reader down when he or she is fretting about this all-too-common fear.

Also included are quotes and poetry that can be injected into the speech which might be useful if you don't happen to possess a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature. These will be helpful for most people, athough you might find suggested lines like “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” to be a little hyperbolic and cliché. While you may not want to use any of the Shakespeare or Byron suggested, these samples do get you thinking about whether or not you would like to inject poetry into your speech. This tactic can be very useful for many people who are uncomfortable stringing words together. Sometimes what you are feeling has already been written, and a carefully injected quote or a couple of lines of poetry can be just the thing to add a bit of glitz and inspiration to your speech. As the book rightly suggests, you do want to be careful about what you choose and the reason you choose it, as you want any quote you use to accurately reflect your own feelings and reflections about your bride or groom and your marriage.

The bulk of each of the books in the series is a compilation of 20 example speeches. Not unlike the “Quotes and Poetry” section, you may not wish to use any of these speeches for your own wedding. With that said, the speeches are, again, a good way to get your mind going about what kinds of things you will want to say at your wedding, who you would like to thank, the people you want to be sure to include (like your parents, anyone who traveled far, and the bride or groom), and the style in which you want to say it. The sample speeches offer a plethora of style choices for you to choose from — do you want to be humorous? Do you want to be formal? Maybe you'll want to tone things down a bit and be serious for a change? What kinds of stories do you want to put in there? All of these questions and more are answered in these samples, and even if you do not borrow even one line, it is sure to get your mind creatively stirring with all the things that you want to say on your big day.

The most valuable aspect of this book, other than the wonderfully casual and familiar tone, is the stress on the importance of sincerity when crafting your speech. While the tips and suggested tasks are vital to any speaker, the most important aspect of your speech is that what you say is true for you, and that it comes from the heart.

And, as Wedding Speeches 4U consistently reminds us throughout the series, it is also good to remember that if you do flub your speech a bit, “the bride isn't going to run off”, nor will your friends and family think less of you. This is the type of advice that makes these texts an invaluable tool in preparing a wedding speech and enjoying the reception to the fullest.

You may purchase Wedding Speeches 4U Here:

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