How Long Should Your Best Man Speech Be?

Keeping an eye on the clock to keep the evening going

It may well be your first time giving a best man speech, or perhaps you’ve done it before. No matter your experience, it’s important to rein back your desire to tell everything, and just as important to say more than a few simple words. Your best man speech length should be appropriate for the occasion, and as there will be others following in your footsteps, it is advisable to keep the speech at somewhere around the 5 minute mark. It may sound short, but for others, it can be an eternity. Within that timeframe you will need to craft a well-thought out speech that keeps the audience engaged without losing their attention.

Adding to Your Best Man Speech Length

If five minutes sounds too long, think again. As the resident expert on the groom and bride, you have plenty of stories to recall helping illustrate the happy occasion. Start by jotting down a few ideas, and choose the ones that seem the most appropriate. Order them by when they took place, or how important each was. Begin to flesh out the details as if you were writing a narrative paper form back in English class and practice reading it out loud. You’ll know when you’ve got it down, then simply read from the prepared speech (you can get some great speech examples here that will make creating your speech super easy) when your moment comes.

Limiting the Duration of your Best Man Speech

On the other hand, your five minutes in the spotlight might seem a bit too short. You have years of stories to tell, perhaps several that you’ve already promised to share when your time came. But, it’s important to remember the focus of the evening is on the happy couple. Your audience will be a mix of your friends, parents, and guests that have little connection to many of the tales you wish to spin. To keep your time manageable, choose only the most important stories and stick to those. Practice giving your speech in front of the mirror and keep a timer on yourself. If you find your speech is longer than the time allotted, simply start to edit away the extras. Keeping it short and sweet, and around that five minute mark, will prove to help build a better speech and ensure a more memorable performance.