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Your best man speech

You're the best man and want to make the room laugh and feel something. Tell us your stories, we ask follow-up questions and write your speech.

Start writing your speech
  • Free preview
  • 14-day money-back guarantee
  • You review every word

From first notes to the last rehearsal

An interview that asks follow-up questions

Every role has its own questions, so your stories make it into the speech.

Read first, then decide

You see the outline and the opening for free before you pay anything.

Cue cards to print

A6 landscape, one card per section, with a time mark for a glance at the clock.

Practise with timer and teleprompter

You know beforehand how long your speech really takes.

What a speech from your stories sounds like

An excerpt as an example. Your speech is written from your own answers.

Best man, example

Croatia, 2015. It has been raining for three days, and Tom is standing on the campsite [name of the campsite] knee-deep in water, the airbed under his arm. Not to save himself. To save the barbecue.

Lisa, if you ever wondered what you were getting into: exactly this.

What this speech needs to do

As best man you stand up for one person, but your speech lands on the couple. The first two thirds belong to your friendship: how you met, what he or she is like, a story that shows it. The last third belongs to both of them.

The guests know the groom or bride from very different parts of life. Grandma knows nothing about your first year at university, the colleagues nothing about that holiday in Croatia. Your job is to show them all the same person, and a concrete story does that better than any list of qualities.

How your best man speech can be structured

  1. Opening: an image, not a cliché. A place, a year, a line that makes people curious.
  2. Introduction: who you are and how you know each other, in a sentence or two.
  3. Your connection: what your friendship is like, shown through one detail.
  4. The story: the heart of the speech. Place, moment, one detail, and what it says about the person.
  5. A second story: a contrast, such as something serious after something funny.
  6. The couple: how you've seen the partner, and what has changed since they arrived.
  7. A wish: specific and rooted in your story, not lifted from a greetings card.
  8. The toast: everyone stands or raises a glass, and you say something like “To Lisa and Tom.”

If your friendship has a running joke or nickname, set it up early and bring it back just before the toast. That gives the speech a thread.

UK or US: what changes

In the UK the best man speech is traditionally the funny one: an affectionate roast of the groom, a sincere turn at the end, often messages from absent friends and a toast to the couple. In the US toasts are usually shorter and warmer, and the maid of honor often speaks just before or after you. The interview asks where your audience is from and adjusts length, spelling and tone.

What stays out

  • exes, not even as a joke
  • stag, bachelor or bachelorette party stories
  • drinking as the punchline
  • innuendo that would embarrass anyone in the room
  • anything that hints at doubts about the marriage
  • in-jokes only three people understand

At the end of the interview we ask what must not be mentioned. Anything you enter there stays out of the speech.

Common questions

Can't find your question? Write to us at support@moverba.com

How long should a best man speech be?
We suggest 5 minutes, which is about 650 words in English. In the interview you choose anything from 2 to 10 minutes. In the UK best man speeches often run longer, in the US they tend to be shorter, so we ask where your audience is from.
How funny should it be?
Funny is welcome, and in the UK it's expected, but it stays affectionate. The speech teases without humiliating: no exes, no stag or bachelor party stories, no drinking disasters, nothing that would make the grandparents wince. There's always one sincere moment before the toast.
Do I need a finished text?
No. Notes are enough. The interview asks about qualities, stories and running jokes until there's enough material for a personal speech.
What if I'm missing a detail?
Then the speech marks the spot in square brackets, for example [name of the campsite], and you fill it in in the editor. We don't guess and we don't make things up.
Can I read out messages from guests who couldn't come?
Yes, if you add them in the interview. We use them exactly as you enter them and never invent any.
I'm the bride's best man. Does that work?
Yes. The questions work for any combination, whoever is marrying whom and whoever you're standing up for.

What you can rely on

Promises you can check before you pay anything.

More about Moverba

  • Nothing made up

    Every detail comes from your answers. If something is missing, we mark the spot instead of making it up.

  • You have the last word

    You review and change every word before you give your speech.

  • Read first, then pay

    You see the outline and the opening for free. Your first purchase comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

  • Your stories only for your speech

    We use what you tell us only for your speech, never for advertising. Our servers are in Germany.

Occasions
5
Roles with their own interview
14
Speech languages
8
Days money-back guarantee
14
Servers in Germany
DE

Other roles, their own questions

From the guides

Guide

How to write a best man speech

A structure that works, ideas for your opening line, how far the jokes can go, and how to finish with a toast that lands.

Your speech starts with your story

Answer a few questions, read the free preview and then decide.

Start writing your speech