The procedures I used to put things together are listed below.
1. Conduct some research
Pose queries to others. In my situation, I sat down with the couple and inquired about their dating history, the nature of their first encounter, their thoughts as their relationship developed into what it is today, and their perceptions of how well they got along. I wanted to comprehend how they got there, step by step — what they fought with, what gave them hope, the pivotal events along the road. They were going to celebrate an occasion that was the culmination of years of work. I would learn things about them that I might not have learned from just being friends with them. This could not be an option for certain persons who are asked to make a formal toast.
I next sent emails to the couple’s parents, siblings, and friends to seek their thoughts on what I had already seen and heard from the pair. This required me to express my opinions to them and probe further. Why did these folks believe that the couple was a good match? What did their personalities and backgrounds have in common that made them such a good match? What issue did each person resolve for the other? In order to comprehend what my friends are like as adults, I needed to know what they were like as children. In order to comprehend how they are together, I needed to grasp how they are apart.
In order to grasp who they truly are and why we love them so much, I needed to know how they had evolved and how they had remained the same over time.
I wrote this for a wedding, but you could use it to toast a boss or a coworker as well. What was it about this indiv
Short toasts can also be made using this technique.
The best part of this strategy is that it doesn’t just apply to the major speeches that we all eventually find ourselves giving at weddings, anniversaries, or important professional gatherings. This strategy can be modified for situations where you have to quickly toast someone on short notice. While you won’t have time for research, developing a thesis will allow you to accomplish the same goal. Begin by sharing a personal anecdote you have about the person, and then continue: Show that the character’s tale reflects who they are as a whole and gets at the heart of who they are. You’re not communicating your experience in this way.
idual that made it possible for them to achieve the feat we are honouring them for?
2. Display, don’t tell
The writing maxim “show, don’t tell” is paramount. The same is true of a fantastic toast. Finding interesting anecdotes allows me to tell the bride’s parents the tale of her nine-year-old self talking nonstop about whales on a road journey from Kansas to Texas rather than just stating that she has endless energy. It took us six years before we had the nerve to have a second kid, her father said, and I could then finish it off with that.
Simple questions like ”
a story that really sums up X for you?” might yield amazing tales. It’s possible that you’ll need to follow up later because sometimes folks need time to consider things. To spark their memory, you may occasionally need to start with your own stories. However, a lot of these people will have fascinating tales to share, and your toast will be better for it.
3. Create a thesis.
You strive to capture your thesis, the topic of the toast, as accurately as possible throughout the reporting process. a succinct statement that covers the entire topic.
Several methods exist for doing this. You can summarise your learnings if you’re confident in your writing skills. If not, however, you are free to utilise the words of others. This is the appeal of making a toast in a journalistic manner. In the end, you can merely rely on other people’s words if you don’t feel comfortable playing the “voice of god” position. Actually, you don’t even need to come up with a statement on your own. Which is fortunate since, as I’ve mentioned, the toast is about us, not you.
You are utilising your knowledge to interpret the individual in a way that is shared by everyone else who is familiar with them.
4. Feel free to make notes.
I used other people’s remarks for the remainder of my speech at the wedding after writing portions of it myself. It was helpful to draw on experiences other than my own because one of the bride’s friends summed up the situation more succinctly than I could have: She told me, “To me, that is a fantastic thing. It is a unique partnership that is able to simultaneously make the other person so happy while providing them the room to stay themselves.”
That served as my thesis, and I built my entire argument around it.
Since I’m bad at speaking spontaneously, I composed the speech and printed it out. I ran through it in rehearsal and made a few last-minute alterations. When the time came, I made every effort to provide it. People laughed, others cried, but the most telling indicator of a job well done was when everyone recognised the couple in the toast I had written. I walked over to the bar and placed an order for a scotch after the ceremony, feeling relieved but a little fried. The bartender with the white hair and scratchy voice paused, nodded, and gave me the highest praise a man could receive for a sermon: “How’s a double sound, Father?”