Writing and Making a Toast
I was first approached by my parents to give a toast to my younger brother at his 13th birthday party. In my family it is a big tradition to hold a celebration when a child turns 13. My parents planned this huge party with a Disc Jockey and in a nice hotel resort room and invited all of his friends to come. My whole family was invited and my brother had the time of his life. In the middle of the party I came up to the microphone to give my speech, a toast to my brother…
Making a toast is no simple nor easy thing to do. For anyone who has ever seen wedding films, in some scenes of the film while making a toast, the speaker is awful and gets booed off the stage or yelled out for being so awful. Other times the speaker gets too nervous and forgets what to say.
In this column I share my advice on how to make a toast.
The first important thing is to try and be told as far in advance as possible that you will be making a toast and the occassion that it is for. It is important to prepare for the toast.
The best thing that I suggest for preparing to make a toast is to grab a piece of paper and a pen and list everything great about the person you are speaking about. For me it was my younger brother so I jotted down everything I love about my brother and his personality. I included the memorable times we shared together like fighting over control of the room we shared together growing up or the small allowance money our parents would give us after doing hard chores for the week. I wrote about the imres we laughed together and what he meant to me having him in my life.
Once I was done writing the list and brainstorming, I then put in bulleted format the important points that I want to emphasize. Make sure that when you give a speech it isn’t that long. You don’t want it to be too short either or people will think that you didn’t put any time into the speech or don’t have anything good to say about the person.
As a student who has taken public speaking classes, I know that it is important to look up at your audience when you are speaking and everyone is watching you. Do not talk with your head down. When you make the toast your hands should be at yuor side in ease or you can use it to make gestures while the other hand holds a glass of champaigne to make the toast.
Another good tip is that you should not read your speech on a piece of paper. By reading a piece of paper you loose all eye contact with your audience. Also if you make a speech without reading something, it makes the toast and speech seem genuine and from the heart. This is also why preparation is key so that you know what you are going to say without reading a piece of paper or memorizing lines word for word.
Also, put emotion into your speech. Emphasize the points you want your audience to remember about your speech. More importantly, speak from the heart about your true feelings about the person and what they mean to you. Another godo tip is to try and make your audience laugh. Even if you aren’t a funny person, thrpw in a funny experience or occassion that will make people laugh. However don’t over do it with the jokes or you might seem corny and contrite.
Finally, relax and have fun. Try not to sweat it. If you speak from the heart and prepare for the toast for the occassion you will do just fine. I know I did when my audience applauded after my toast was finished.
