1. First, always keep your remarks brief. Toasts are generally given
during the middle of some kind of festivities (e.g., wedding,
retirement party, farewell party), and you don’t want your toast
to take away from those festivities for too long.
2. Second, the goal of a toast is to focus attention on the person or
persons being toasted-not on the speaker. As such, while you
are speaking you need to focus your attention on the people
being toasted, both by physically looking at them and by keeping
your message about them. You should also avoid any inside
jokes between you and the people being toasted because toasts
are public and should be accessible for everyone who hears
them.
3. To conclude a toast, simply say something like, “Pleas join me in
recognizing Joan for her achievement” and lift your glass. When
you lift your glass, this will signal to others to do the same and
then you can all take a drink, which is the end of your speech.
