# Gave a speech at Sister's wedding!



## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

Well after months of dreading it the day finally came for me to do the speech. There were around 200 guests present and the speeches were professionally recorded too, so to say I was almost having a panic attack would not be correct. It was more like a heart attack! To make matters worse I was the first person to give a speech and the microphone was giving some nasty feedback at the start. I was stone cold sober also which made me even more aware of all the eyes and camera lenses on me.

But I got through it! I was scared that my hands would shake if I held the paper up so I placed it on the table and read it from there. I even managed to improvise and add a few lines as I was reading. There was a slight awkward pause when I got ahead of myself and read too far, but I played it off and recovered.

After the speech I had quite a few people come up to me and comment on how they enjoyed the speech, which was nice to hear. My uncle also said he was proud of me up there so that felt really good too. Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I don't ever want to do one again. :haha


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## HannahAnarchy (Dec 8, 2010)

Well done!  You should be proud of yourself, it takes alot of courage to stand up and speak in front of a large amount of people.


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

HannahAnarchy said:


> Well done!  You should be proud of yourself, it takes alot of courage to stand up and speak in front of a large amount of people.


Thank you! I have been on a high the past few days as I didn't think I had it in me to do something like this. I was extremely nervous beforehand and could barely sleep the night before the wedding. Probably because I didn't start writing the speech until the night before, yep wasn't the smartest idea. :um But everything went well on the day thank God.


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## dontworrybehappy (Dec 4, 2010)

:yay Good job! Glad to hear it went well!! 
...I just hope it wasn't anything like Alan's. :lol
“None of you know Stu like I do. Not you. Not you. Not you. Not you. Not nobody knows Stu like I do. No one. I can’t even tell you what we’ve been through because we made a pact, more important than blood. What I can tell you is this. This is not Stu’s first marriage. There was a ***** in Las Vegas a couple of years ago…”


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

dontworrybehappy said:


> :yay Good job! Glad to hear it went well!!
> ...I just hope it wasn't anything like Alan's. :lol
> ?None of you know Stu like I do. Not you. Not you. Not you. Not you. Not nobody knows Stu like I do. No one. I can?t even tell you what we?ve been through because we made a pact, more important than blood. What I can tell you is this. This is not Stu?s first marriage. There was a ***** in Las Vegas a couple of years ago??


Hey thanks!  I'm still surprised at how well it went, especially considering the first time I read the speech out loud was there and then on the day. I had no time for practice or rehearsing whatsoever because I left everything to the last minute. I was still writing the darn thing in the cab on the way there lol! I wish it was as good as his. :b I did however start my speech with 'Hello everyone.....my name is ______ and I'm an alcoholic'. That got a big laugh and honest to God I don't know how I had the guts to say half the stuff I did but I pulled it out of somewhere. It was the strangest 5 minutes of my life probably. :lol


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## firoz786 (Feb 5, 2011)

Wow ! Thats amazing! Sounds like you went through it like a pro. I remember I had to do one for my sisters wedding. My heart was racing and my mouth getting dry. But as I started to read on I got more relaxed and started putting positive thinking in my head (plus I had a drink before getting up LOL which helped). I couldnt believe ppl were saying what a great speech. so, I know how u must be feeling  LOL I wouldnt wanna do it again either !


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## layitontheline (Aug 19, 2009)

that's great. 
having been to three weddings this year, i've seen quite a few speeches and it seems almost everyone gets nervous doing them. one guy even went up to the stand, said speeches weren't his thing, congratulated the couple and sat back down. which is fine, but the fact you could put something together and carry through with it is really an achievement.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

That's awesome!!! Congratulations. :yay


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

firoz786 said:


> Wow ! Thats amazing! Sounds like you went through it like a pro. I remember I had to do one for my sisters wedding. My heart was racing and my mouth getting dry. But as I started to read on I got more relaxed and started putting positive thinking in my head (plus I had a drink before getting up LOL which helped). I couldnt believe ppl were saying what a great speech. so, I know how u must be feeling  LOL I wouldnt wanna do it again either !


Thanks! Oh no not you as well, why couldn't we have no siblings? :haha I was feeling quite relaxed until they made the announcement over the loud speaker for "everyone to report to the dining hall for the speeches and toasts". I was crapping my pants after hearing that, then I nearly lost it for good when I saw the woman approaching me with the microphone and all the photographers setting up. I wanted to back out at that point as I felt the audience was too large and I was going to screw it up. But I got to my feet and started reading and before I knew it the thing was over. I completely lost track of time. Well done to you too.


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

layitontheline said:


> that's great.
> having been to three weddings this year, i've seen quite a few speeches and it seems almost everyone gets nervous doing them. one guy even went up to the stand, said speeches weren't his thing, congratulated the couple and sat back down. which is fine, but the fact you could put something together and carry through with it is really an achievement.


Haha wow I've only been to three weddings in my entire life and this was the third lol. I think it's the silence in the room right before that gets to people, it is a really strange feeling to have so many people staring and waiting for you to speak. Even moreso when you are not used to and don't particularly like attention. When you speak into the mic and hear your voice coming through the speakers for the first time it kind of shocks you. It's like you are hearing a different person almost. But after about a minute you get used to it and start running on autopilot. Thanks for the kind words.


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

Neptunus said:


> That's awesome!!! Congratulations. :yay


Thank you too. I really believe that if I can do it ANYONE on here can. Just for the love of God don't wait until 9pm the night before the wedding to start writing the speech like I did. LOL.


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## tutliputli (Feb 22, 2009)

Wow, that's a huge achievement. And the fact that you did it sober and people told you afterwards that they enjoyed it... nice! Congrats.


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## Neptunus (Oct 29, 2007)

crsohr said:


> Thank you too. I really believe that if I can do it ANYONE on here can. Just for the love of God don't wait until 9pm the night before the wedding to start writing the speech like I did. LOL.


:lol

Being the hardcore procrastinator that I am, that'll probably happen anyway. Kudos to you for being able to pull if off, though!


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## Prodigal Son (Dec 11, 2005)

I had a similar experience last year. Very brave crsohr, at the time I actually thought people were praising my speech out of pity. I'd soak up those compliments now. You sound like you did better than me, I never went on auto-pilot heh. I did alright though.

Good job.


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## pollster (Oct 4, 2009)

Wow, congratulations! Speeches make me want to vomit.

My brother is getting married next year, and as much as I hate to say it, I really hope nobody asks me to do any kind of speech etc. I feel so terrible for thinking that. Not only due to the anxiety, but not really knowing what to say (or enough to say). Why can't people elope, for pete's sake?!?! :b

That's a super triumph for you.


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## peach123 (Dec 13, 2010)

crsohr said:


> Well after months of dreading it the day finally came for me to do the speech. There were around 200 guests present and the speeches were professionally recorded too, so to say I was almost having a panic attack would not be correct. It was more like a heart attack! To make matters worse I was the first person to give a speech and the microphone was giving some nasty feedback at the start. I was stone cold sober also which made me even more aware of all the eyes and camera lenses on me.
> 
> But I got through it! I was scared that my hands would shake if I held the paper up so I placed it on the table and read it from there. I even managed to improvise and add a few lines as I was reading. There was a slight awkward pause when I got ahead of myself and read too far, but I played it off and recovered.
> 
> After the speech I had quite a few people come up to me and comment on how they enjoyed the speech, which was nice to hear. My uncle also said he was proud of me up there so that felt really good too. Overall it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I don't ever want to do one again. :haha


Congratulations on your speech!!!! I envy you having a sister and being able to share in her experience of getting married.


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

tutliputli said:


> Wow, that's a huge achievement. And the fact that you did it sober and people told you afterwards that they enjoyed it... nice! Congrats.


Thank you! Yes sober and I don't take any anxiety medication either so I was as straight edged as they come. The reason I didn't want to drink was due to the fact I thought I'd end up having one too many and slur my speech for _the_ speech, the embarrassment from that would be too much to bare. Especially as it was being recorded! I actually do not want to see the video as I feel my facial expressions were that of a very petrified/nervous person, and I'll cringe looking at it. Thank goodness I didn't stutter and my voice remained steady throughout. I initially thought the first few people were saying they liked it just to be polite but when almost a dozen people were congratulating me I realized I must have done a pretty good job. Maybe because I was the youngest person by some distance to give a speech and they didn't expect it from me.



Prodigal Son said:


> I had a similar experience last year. Very brave crsohr, at the time I actually thought people were praising my speech out of pity. I'd soak up those compliments now. You sound like you did better than me, I never went on auto-pilot heh. I did alright though.
> 
> Good job.


Well as long as you didn't pass out mid-way through it can be classed as a success, you completed it and lived to tell the tale that's all that matters. :b I'm sure you did better than you thought, people with sa are notoriously hard on themselves. It does take guts for anyone to stand up there alone and I can see that now, especially for people like us as these type of things are so far out of our comfort zones. I've been soaking them up like a sponge haha, the last time I felt this proud of myself was when I passed my driving test. Even the father of the groom didn't do a speech and felt too shy to say a 30 second toast. So Lord knows how we managed!


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## crsohr (Dec 30, 2010)

pollster said:


> Wow, congratulations! Speeches make me want to vomit.
> 
> My brother is getting married next year, and as much as I hate to say it, I really hope nobody asks me to do any kind of speech etc. I feel so terrible for thinking that. Not only due to the anxiety, but not really knowing what to say (or enough to say). Why can't people elope, for pete's sake?!?! :b
> 
> That's a super triumph for you.


Oh me too. I have a big fear of public speaking and the only time I ever did a speech before this was back at school when I was around 14. But that was infront of twenty five fellow students and everyone had to do it, this was a whole different ball game!

Haha I know right it would be so much easier! But you can do it trust me! If you do have to make one be sure to go onto youtube.com and view some sister wedding speeches or just general wedding speeches to get a brief idea. Also google search 'sister to brother wedding speech' and take a look at the results. It will give you a good idea of how to structure it and what things to include. The bulk of the speech will be you talking about childhood memories you have of your sibling.



peach123 said:


> Congratulations on your speech!!!! I envy you having a sister and being able to share in her experience of getting married.


Thanks! Well you can have her if you want, you'll soon change your mind believe me. :b It was a really great day looking back on it and once the hard part was over I was able to enjoy the rest of the evening/night like everyone else. Come to think of it the whole day was a good exposure experience in general.


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## pollster (Oct 4, 2009)

> The bulk of the speech will be you talking about childhood memories you have of your sibling.


haha... that's the problem... my memory doesn't seem to work so good anymore. :b Maybe I could just make up some memories and hope nobody notices.

Good idea about the internet searches though. I'll keep that in mind. But will hope to hell I won't need to put it to use.


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