Give Memorable Toasts With the Perfect Balance of Humor and Sincerity
Whether you wish the newlyweds long years of happiness or delivering a speech at a bar mitzvah, toast gives you the opportunity to show how much you care. To make the best toast possible, you need to balance humor and sincerity perfectly.
In a recent article, Bruce Feiler of The New York Times spoke to some of the professional speechwriters or “toast whisperers” who make their living by writing toasts for other people on special occasions. You might not want someone else to write your speech for you, but Victoria Wellman, founder of phantom writing company Oratory Laboratory , suggests that a good toast boils down to two main ingredients:
“We always say that speech should be 70 percent humor, 30 percent sincerity. When you are sincere, when you really break your feelings for this person, people understand that this is real. “
When you sit down to write your speech, first find humor and then allow sincerity. If you want to use personal stories about someone, stay away from really embarrassing things and keep it at ease. You should also be short, because no one likes toast that never seems to end. Prepare ahead of time and you will deliver the most memorable toast of the entire event.
Addressing a Ghost Writer for a Personal Toast | The New York Times via Business Insider