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Last Minute Speeches and Toasts - book review

© Sandra Linville

Continued from part one.

(part two)

The authors turned to members of the National Speakers Association (NSA) for some professional advice in their first chapter. This chapter provides the experts’ favorite toasts as well as good, common-sense pointers. Some of the most prevalent suggestions are to keep it short, sweet and sincere. Some advice from Chuck Reaves, professional moderator, might take the pressure off the person making the toast. He says, “First of all focus on the person being toasted. This is not about you, this is about them. If you do this, you will find yourself less nervous (because you will realize that the attention is on the recipient and not you and you will be more sincere.) Instead of making a presentation, you will be making a personal statement or tribute.”

Last Minute Speeches and Toasts

The toasting situation is covered, but what happens if you’re asked to give a speech – tomorrow or this afternoon. You still can’t depend on the space invasion, and during a speech more attention is being directed at you, not the honoree of a toast. There is another book for just this time.

Andrew Frothingham wrote the book, Last Minute Speeches and Toasts, also published by Career Press, to help those who are asked to deliver a speech at the last minute. He starts with several confidence- building statements, such as:

1. “It’s a no lose situation. ..Many people do their best speaking when they have less time to prepare.”
2. “Your grammar doesn’t have to be perfect.”
3. “You don’t have to fill the whole time slot.”

Frothingham provides a bevy of excellent hints and strategies in an easy-to-read format so anyone can make an effective speech with very little time for preparation. He covers how to choose and use quotes and then provides hundreds of quotes, jokes or toasts to slip into your speech or use as inspiration.

Frothingham’s pro tips include:

1. Have something to say
2. Be yourself
3. Take control
4. Don’t panic if things go wrong
5. Close your speech with a bang, then sit down.

He echoes President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice about speaking: “Be sincere; be brief; be seated."

His five killer opening strategies and six last minute resources are inventive and easy to use. You really could scan this book quickly and come up with just the right words when called upon to come to the rescue at the last minute.

If you still aren’t convinced, consider this quote from the book: "Every man is eloquent once in his life." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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