AFTER-DINNER AND OTHER OCCASIONAL SPEAKING

 

The perception of the ludicrous is a pledge of sanity.

 

--RALPH WALDO EMERSON, _Essays_.

 

And let him be sure to leave other men their turns to speak.

 

--FRANCIS BACON, Essay on _Civil and Moral Discourse_.

 

Perhaps the most brilliant, and certainly the most entertaining, of all speeches

are those delivered on after-dinner and other special occasions. The air of

well-fed content in the former, and of expectancy well primed in the latter,

furnishes an audience which, though not readily won, is prepared for the best,

while the speaker himself is pretty sure to have been chosen for his gifts of

oratory.

 

The first essential of good occasional speaking is to study the occasion.

Precisely what is the object of the meeting? How important is the occasion to

the audience? How large will the audience be? What sort of people are they? How

large is the auditorium? Who selects the speakers' themes? Who else is to speak?

What are they to speak about? Precisely how long am I to speak? Who speaks

before I do and who follows?

 

If you want to hit the nail on the head ask such questions as these.[35] No