VI. Speeches for Special Events

Introduction
Throughout your life, you’ll be called on to speak publicly at many different types of events. This section will prepare you for some of the more common types and will help you master those occasions.

Mastering the Introduction
If you follow this simple system clearly and concisely, you will guarantee an effective, appropriate introduction every time you use it.

Testimonials
First cousin to the introduction is the testimonial. In fact, a good testimonial is an expanded introduction — a combination profile and salute.

Toasts
Of all the types of public speaking you’ll ever have to do, proposing a toast should be the easiest. There are three reasons why:

Weddings
At some time or another, nearly every adult male will be called on to deliver a toast — as bridegroom, father of the bride or best man, if not for a birthday or some other event. At some point in life, women, too, may find themselves hosting a dinner or luncheon where they have to deliver the opening toast.

Birthdays and Anniversaries
Another toasting opportunity that most of us will face at one time or another is a birthday or anniversary. Sometimes the gathering will be business-oriented; often as not, it will be a blend of business and social. In all cases, a good toast can be both the highlight and the wind-up of the formal part of the party.

Other Opportunities
If the anniversary or other observance involved is a military one — perhaps a unit reunion — one could do worse than to borrow a toast from Colonel Potter of “M*A*S*H” fame: “To long lives and short wars!”

Acceptances
Being able to express praise or gratitude graciously is one of the best qualities a speaker can develop. Here is everything you need to know about preparing a good acceptance speech for an award or any other form of recognition.

Graduations
Historian Will Durant once wrote: “Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance.” One should bear this in mind when addressing any educational gathering — but especially a graduating class.

Eulogies
“Depend upon it, sir,” said Dr. Samuel Johnson to his young Scottish chronicler, James Boswell, “when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” So does knowing that you’ve been called on to deliver a funeral eulogy!

Prayers
Prayer is an important part of American tradition and current American life. The story of the golden inscription on the marble chimney piece in the White House State Dining Room is testimony of this continuous tradition.

Birthdays
Birthdays and congratulations ... what do they have in common? They’re both festive occasions, celebrating someone in an upbeat fashion. And they’re the kind of speaking occasions we’re called on to participate in countless times during our lives.

Congratulatory Speeches
Of all the speeches that are given in the course of a year, 90 percent are congratulatory in one way or another. And the higher you go in your business or profession, the more often you will be called on to deliver them.