About Us

WHAT WE DO

TheBestManSpeech.com from DataCollege Ltd makes writing a best man speech quick, effortless and - believe it or not - fun. Our extensive collection of jokes, toasts and anecdotes takes the stress out of the situation by handing you a treasure trove of tried-and-tested material.

This material is complemented by a wealth of knowledge provided by speechwriters and comedians with decades of experience between them. Covering everything from tone and tempo through to structure and delivery, our various tools, tutorials and blogs will help you craft a memorable speech which delights and excites from the opening line to the closing toast.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Hello. I'm Chris Tait, and I began this website in 2003 when a friend asked me to be his best man. Like all blokes, I thought I was a comic genius waiting to be discovered. But when I began writing my speech, I soon realised I was about as funny as Christmas Day on a paediatric ward. I needed help. I needed material. I needed the internet.

Unfortunately, back in 2003, the internet consisted of nothing more than Yahoo Chat, Ask Jeeves and emo kids with overly elaborate Myspace profiles. There were no decent websites to help an unfunny man like me create a wedding speech from scratch, so I built one myself.

ARE YOU FUNNY NOW?

In a word, no. In all honesty, I can't write for toffee. I didn't even write the words you're reading right now. My background is in software development. TheBestManSpeech.com was initially based on a speech program which I used to filter through huge amounts of best man material.

To acquire this material, I ran speechwriting contests to find some of the funniest best man lines being used today. These days I have professional writers doing this job instead, ensuring that our site is constantly updated with fresh lines and timely advice from professionals who really do know what they're talking about.

Don't believe me? Check out their resumés.

ABOUT THE WRITING TEAM

Joseph Reaney is a travel writer and editor, with illustrious clients including the likes of National Geographic, The Guardian, Forbes Travel Guide, The Independent, USA Today, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times and Razzle - that last one may be a lie.

Joseph is also a prolific comedy writer, and even has his own production company, Junior Productions. In addition to his witty best man speeches and one-liners, he has penned sketches for BBC Radio 4 Extra, satirical articles for Newsthump and written and directed a couple of award-winning short films, The Man Who Stopped and Today's the Day. He's also the co-writer and director of the live sketch show Birds, which was nominated for the BBC New Comedy Award in 2018 and was a finalist at the Leicester Square Theatre Sketch Off competition.

Ash Williamson is a comedy and content writer whose clients have included stand-up entertainers, Fortune 500 companies and social media channels. He currently works as the creative writer for the online crime game Torn, and the YouTube channel Strange Mysteries - the latter having gained 300 million views and two million subscribers during his time as lead writer.

In 2017 Ash branched out into children's writing after submitting winning entries to two competitions organised by BBC Writersroom. Ash has also written sketches for BBC Radio 4's The Show What You Wrote and Radio 4 Extra's Newsjack, appearing in the latter's writing room several times over the course of two series.

In August 2018, Ash's Radio 4 sitcom pitch, 70 Million Prime Ministers, was accepted into the final round of the commissioning process. Ash is also in the process of producing his own YouTube Sci-fi comedy series, Tomorrowtimes.

Toby Starbuck is a writer with two decades of experience across a broad range of disciplines. He developed his skills in the film and home entertainment trade, writing countless movie trailers, ad campaigns and DVD features, before helping to build a respected boutique agency in London which provided high-end corporate video as well as consumer advertising and marketing materials.

More recently, he has provided narrative and copy support for the games industry.

See our best man speech material content topics and model best man speeches for ideas on how to create your wedding speech.