It may not be a stretch to say that many speeches and toasts are really pretty bad. Either they are dull and too long or they are embarrassing and done in poor taste. This is particularly true when it comes to maid of honor speeches.

As the bride and groom sit snug at the head table and hundreds of unfamiliar eyes are focused on what you're wearing, as well as that tiny piece of paper in your hand, coming up with an appropriate speech can be more than just slightly daunting.

If you've been given the honorable task of creating a stellar maid of honor speech, here are a few ways you can blow it - almost instantly. Use these tips to guide you through how to not write a good maid of honor speech.

Use your Maid of Honor Speech Or Toast to Make the Bride Look Bad - Really, Really Bad

While your goal may be to point out how she overcame life's obstacles, talking in great detail about how you knew the bride during the lowest times of her life and how you single-handedly rescued her from self-destruction and inevitable destitution each time, may not be the best route to pointing out her successes. Writing such a maid of honor toast will, however, almost guarantee grandma and grandpa gasps from the audience and a new table for you.

Use Your Madi Of Highlight The list of ex's

While everyone has a list of ex's, it is not always necessary or wise to include this in a maid of honor toast speech - unless of course, your goal is to see if you can get the groom to leave the room.

While childhood boyfriends and the occasional high school sweetheart may seem harmless to name, including details of the her college experiments may be where you'd want to draw the line. The bottom line here is to use humor but not humiliation.

Photo Enhancing Your Maid Of Honor Speech Or Toast

Letting your creative side get the best of you by including photos with your maid of honor speech may just be the icing on the cake. Those private college dorm days from years gone by are likely forgotten by the bride - on purpose. Gearing up with a speech and PowerPoint presentation with full body-length photos of her calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone may not be seen as appropriate, but could definitely be included on how not to write a good maid of honor toast speech.