Speech easy: Turn to the Internet
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY JEFF KORBELIK / Lincoln Journal Star
You’re at a wedding and are asked to give a toast. What do you say?
Many of us have been in this situation at one time or another.
Unfortunately, not all of us are Clintonesque when it comes to public speaking.
We’re more like President Bush.
That’s where Paul Dickson comes in.
The author has a book and, even better, a Web site — www.toastsbook.com — with more than 1,500 toasts, sentiments, blessings and graces.
“It all boils down to people not wanting to have egg on their faces,” Dickson said in a phone interview from his Garrett Park, Md., home. “People don’t want to be embarrassed.”
For themselves and for those they are speaking about.
That’s why the Web has become a handy and inexpensive resource in helping with life events.
Need a eulogy?
Visit EulogySpeech.net, which was created by owner and editor James Nardel with the intent of offering a free online resource to help those planning to speak at a funeral.
EulogySpeech covers a number of topics, from where and how to start the process of eulogy writing to eulogies given at commemoration services for famous people to famous quotes which you can use or draw upon, such as this one from Albert Einstein:
“Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation. For they are us, our bodies are only wilted leaves on the tree of life.”
Or how about writing a graduation speech?
At Suite101.com, a utility Web site, you can find an article by freelance writer and former Colorado State professor Naomi Rockler-Gladen.
She offers tips on delivering a memorable speech. Among them: avoid referencing “that Green Day song.”
“Thousands of graduation speeches have included lyrics from ‘Time of Your Life,’” she writes. “Give it a rest. And actually, the real name of the song is ‘Good Riddance.’ It’s an angry breakup song. Green Day intended the lyrics to be sarcastic, not sentimental.”
She then provides a link to another of her essays at Suite101 about graduation theme songs.
Are you getting married and in need of wedding vows?
Check out Trevor Black’s ElegantWeddingVows.com, where he provides special words for a price and several more for free.
Black, in a phone interview from his San Francisco base, said he launched the Web site in 1999 as an extension of the mail-order wedding vow business he inherited from his father.
He no longer provides the mail-order service. Instead, he sells and distributes all the vows online.
“The Web site provides instant gratification” for users, he said. “You don’t have to wait for them to come in the mail.”
He understands that many couples prefer to write their own vows. But there are others who turn to him.
“People who are planning to get married often times are very nervous, and they don’t feel adept at writing their own vows,” he said. “Me and other Web sites take a lot of the anxiety away from the whole process.”
Indeed, that’s one of the reason why Dickson wrote his book, “Toasts,” and built his Web site, which features toasts for anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, holidays and more.
“Why is there a profusion of these (Web sites)?” Dickson asked. “Because there are plenty of people out there who want a little help, especially with things that are verbal.”
Thirty years ago, he found a simple book of toasts written at the turn of the century (the 20th, not the 21st).
“It was a time when people were being driven more and more to informality,” he said.
Dickson memorized and embellished many of them, using them for weddings and holidays. It wasn’t long before people started requesting them.
“People often think they have to be really funny or say something extraordinary,” he said. “Sometimes a very simple statement or blessing or thought is the most effective and most memorable.”
But a little guidance always helps.
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.