I can't impress on you enough the importance of rehearsal. If you do not rehearse then all you are doing is increasing the chances of anxiety on the day. If you rehearse you will be able to give your speech to the guests, if you don't then you will still be learning it yourself.

Firstly, when rehearsing, read your speech out loud. This is very important as it will make very apparent those areas of your speech that require continual refinement and improvement. Your speech must flow logically, should not read like a report and should use precise language.

This leads me on to my second tip - use language with precision. You want to ensure that the guests remain focussed and interested in your speech. If it is filled with long, drawn out, sentences, full of adjectives then you could lose them. Also, the use of words like oh, um, erm etc should definitely be avoided. This is a big problem for most people and takes rehearsal to get right. Just listen when someone inexperienced talks in public and see how many times they say these non-words to fill the silences. Then listen to someone versed in public speak, even a television presenter or news reader and see how many times they say these non-words.

When we are nervous and adrenaline is flowing through our bodies - like when we are about to give a speech - all other parts of our system except, it seems, breathing shut down. You do not want to appear lifeless and emotionless when you give your speech. Two tips are the emotional stretch and taking on an alternate persona. You may feel silly when practising using these techniques, don't worry, most people do. The point is, though, they work!

In the emotional stretch you practice developing the muscles used expressing a variety of emotions. You are essentially practicing being happy or being sad when you are not really feeling either of these - a form of acting. Using a small audience (children work well) read out your speech. The audience then calls out happy or say and you have to speak with this emotion. As they call happier or sadder you further exaggerate the emotion.. All you are looking for here is to get comfortable with bigger feelings and facial expressions so that you can get through your speech.

Using another's persona is a way to allow emotional expression. Some people are not comfortable expressing as themselves but when the take on someone else's persona then something is released and they become far more expressive. So, pick some famous or someone you admire and rehearse using their persona - their style, gestures, mannerisms etc. Remember, this is rehearsal and it is all about freeing yourself to become more emotionally expressive.

	Select your role to find out more The Best Man The Groom The Father of the Bride The Maid of Honor If you have to say a few words, make sure they are the right few words

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