First and foremost, be sincere. Let your guests know how much you appreciate them for honoring you with their presence and sharing your wedding day with you.

Secondly, thank the parents. Giving special attention to your parents and your bride’s parents for all they’ve done is always a big hit. Use humor, quotes and memories to show how you feel and use your own words to let them see your sincerity. Avoid being redundant and keep it simple. The crowd will eat it up.

Next, and most importantly, address your bride. Let her know how lucky you are to have her as your wife and that you will cherish her always. Talk about what makes her special, share a favorite story from when you were dating or how you met. This is a moment of impact for your listeners but your focus should be on her. Make it real, make it honest, make it all about her.

Then it’s time to give a nod to the maid of honor and the best man. Start with the maid of honor since you just spoke about your bride and let her know how much you appreciate her support. Ending with your best man is always a good move. This is your chance to be funny. Zing him, tell him how grateful you are to have him as a friend, let the crowd in on why he’s your best man.

Some may think the groom’s speech needs to be flowing with flowery language. However, the best speech a groom can give is one that reflects who he really is. A well-received speech is going to be planned but not stilted, contain personal stories that could be funny or serious but that always matter and most importantly, it will be sincere. Talk about things that occurred while planning the wedding and express your appreciation for those who helped to make your wedding a success. You should express your thoughts on what it takes to make a marriage successful and how you plan to see that through.

Again, jot down what you want to say and give yourself plenty of time to rehearse how you want to deliver your speech. The more time you time you spend, the more confident and relaxed you’ll be when the spot light is on you. Practice makes perfect, as they say. And keep it short! Nobody wants a lengthy speech; no matter how heart felt. End it all by raising your glass and toasting your bride first, then the parents and lastly your guests. Well done. Speech success.

Public speaking is a skill. A skill is something that anybody can learn. Like football or playing the guitar, it just takes simple instruction and practice to get good at it. Even a groom can be confident and successful when all eyes are on him. Focusing on being afraid or on a negative past experience can lead you to miss the fact that speaking in front of people can be learned. You’ll find the confidence you need by setting these things aside.

Take a look at these simple tips to bolster your nerve:

Be prepared. Look up examples of grooms’ speeches. It won’t take long for you to identify with certain parts of what you see. Always be aware of having a balance of humor, sentiment and specifics.

Make notes. List out the name of people you should acknowledge and make an outline of the things you want to say. Tuck it away, but keep it handy. This can help give you some peace of mind when it’s time for your speech.

Imagine being a crowd pleaser. Let yourself feel what it might be like to hear the applause and laughter and relax into the sensation. Also think about yourself delivering your speech and how you’ll want to say things in a way that keeps the audience engaged.

Avoid glitches. On the day of your wedding, make sure everything is in place for your speech. Be aware of your location and check the mics and sounds system. Anything you find that needs to be improved or changed can be done prior to the speech to insure your moment is uninterrupted.

Have a schedule of events. Listing out an order of events will help you to avoid having special moments seem awkward or unplanned. This should be coordinated ahead of time with your wedding planner or host so that they are responsible for a flow that allows for a pleasant reception without long delays between elements of your day. Click here to read more on the best wedding speech ideas.

First, take some time to relax and regroup before going in to the reception. Emotions will be running high after the ceremony, guests will be clamoring for your attention and your nerves will be on edge knowing that shortly, all eyes will be on you. You’ll have to get yourself calm and under control in order to deliver a speech worthy of your daughter.

How do I relax, you say? Be prepared. The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll feel. No one is a natural public speaker. Some are just more prepared than others.

Secondly, take time to write out everything you want to say. Using cue cards to remind yourself as you go along is great, but you’ll have more success if you’ve written out your speech in its entirety.

Now it’s time to practice. Choose a few friends or family members who will be give you honest feedback and try out your speech on them.

Using their input, edit what you want to say so as to avoid redundancy and overlong sentences. Stay on topic and keep the speech to 5 minutes or less. Chooses stories about your daughter that are meaningful but brief.

Lastly, avoid being clichéd. Do not fear the thesaurus. Use words that create imagery and will make the way you describe your daughter endearing and remembered.