Public Speaking Course:

Toasts

You don't see many people toasting these days anymore, but I still teach its importance in my public speaking course. A polished professional public speaker should know a few short toasts if and when the occasion arises. Here are toasts for different occasions:

Birthdays:

"To your birthday, glass held high. Glad it's you that's older -- not I."

"Here's to you. No matter how old you are, you don't look it."

Christmas:

"Twas the month after Christmas, and Santa had flit; Came there tidings in the mail, which read: Please remit."

"Here's to the Holly with its bright red berry. Here's to Christmas, let's make it merry."

Marriage:

"Marriage is an institution, but who wants to live in an institution." -- Groucho Marx

"May for 'better or worse' be far better than worse."

Friendship:

"Here's to a friend who knows me well and likes me anyway."

"May the friends of our youth be the companions of our old age."

"Good day, good health, good cheer, good night!"

Meals:

"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you diet."

"A full belly, a heavy purse, and a light heart."

Health:

"Here's to your health. You make age curious, time furious, and all of us envious."

New Year:

"May all our troubles in the coming year be as short as our New Year's resolutions."

"In the year ahead may we treat our friends with kindness and our enemies with generosity. "

Luck:

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never face the wrong way."

"May your luck be like the capital of Ireland. Always Dublin."

To close this lesson from my public speaking course I would like to tell you that I feel like a loaf of bread. Wherever I go, they toast me.