Mics by the Belly Button

“And next up this evening, let’s hear it for the Best Man!”

He starts talking while holding the microphone far from his mouth, down by his belly button.

I discuss how to hold a microphone with every speaker at a wedding; they always tell me they know how to hold it. In my experience, they don’t and their nerves often take over as soon as they start talking.

To help solve this, I’ll sometimes let them hold the microphone and play with it to get comfortable. I’ll even include the rest of the table in the discussion; this way, the people closest to the speaker can give a reminder to hold the mic closer to their mouths.

I can always turn down a microphone if a person is too loud, but I’ll get feedback if needing to crank the volume while trying to make someone loud enough for everyone to hear.