Anniversary

Before we go into advice on speeches, the best thing that you can do is to get started on it early. Although these techniques and tips will work in the last few weeks leading up to the wedding, you really need to practice to make it look good.

Back to the advice, you don't have to write your speech in order to give one. You can search the Internet for other people's speeches and selectively borrow from them. Although some English scholars and copyright authors would squabble over plagiarism—you're not using this to make money, so you should be fine. If you fear that someone is going to arrest you, then quote the whole speech, giving the true author's name.

What's good about looking through other speeches is that you may just end up personalizing them anyways and coming up with your own ideas. That's how you write a good speech.

Getting ideas

A lot of writing speeches and toasts is from listening to other ones. Talk to the person-who-you-are-toasting's friends and family to see if there are any stories that would make a good toast. You'd be surprised at some of the things that you can find out. Of course, the really embarrassing ones should be saved for bachelor or bachelorette parties.

You may also want to find a poem that relates to them and read that aloud. Poems are always good emotional material. Try to find ones that speak of married love, rather than the newness of love. This will demonstrate your faith in their new marriage, rather than concentrating on the courtship.

And don't feel that you have to be stuck in finding something that's overly emotional. You can find something funny and have the whole reception hall laughing. Humor is tricky though because it can go south in a blink of an eye. Keep it clean, and you're usually fine.

The key to a great wedding toast or speech is the honesty with which you deliver it. A lot of times, it isn't the words that are moving, but the emotion that drives the toast or the speech. Be yourself and be true to the couple, and you're sure to be appreciated.