Raise Your Glasses High

Give the Perfect Toast

Raise your glass to learning how to give a memorable salutation

Being asked to present a toast is both a great honor and a very serious responsibility. Your words need to be meaningful, memorable, and heartfelt. To make your toast epic, it needs humor. To keep the audience happy, it needs to be brief.

1 Keep It Brief

We’ve all seen toasts given in movies and on television. They can be succinct, uplifting, and inspiring. Or they can seem to go on forever, with a litany of bad jokes and much more personal information than you care to know. Vanessa Van Edwards, author of “Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People” said to keep it punchy. According to Van Edwards, an audience decides if they enjoy the toast or not within the first seven seconds.

2 No Surprises, Please!

There certainly are people who can deliver a legendary toast on demand, but most of us need to prepare in advance. Consider the event and who will be in attendance. If you’re presenting a toast to newlyweds with several generations of their family in attendance, take care to not offend anyone with information that’s too personal. Grandma doesn’t need to know what her favorite grandson did in Cabo on spring break or that her sweet granddaughter has a secret tattoo.

By Bill Lindsey

3 Make It About Them, Not You

A toast is a performance, so make sure the audience enjoys it. Tell an engaging story about the person or people being honored. Here’s an example: “Griselda is much more than my big sister—she’s my personal hero and makes everything an adventure. When she taught me how to drive, she borrowed Mom’s car without telling her—sorry, Mom—and taught me how to parallel park and do donuts. Let’s lift a glass to her on this happy day!”

4 Don’t Add Alcohol

Drunk toasting is just as bad as drunk texting, but with a much wider audience. If it takes a few drinks to loosen your inhibitions so you can speak in front of an audience, you might want to politely decline. Humor is another potential pitfall. Not everyone can tell a joke well in normal conversations, so they shouldn’t try to do so in a toast. However, if you’re naturally funny, keep the material clean and inoffensive.

5 Don’t Read It

Even the most gifted public speaker’s voice takes on a monotonous tone when reading aloud, negating any charisma you may normally exude as your stories or jokes fall flat. Any toast that’s too long to be memorized and that must be written down is a toast that’s too long. An index card with one- or twoword bullet points can keep you on track. Find friendly eyes in the audience and speak to them from your heart.

Epoch Booklist Are there books you’d recommend? We’d love to hear from you. Let us know at features@epochtimes.com

RECOMMENDED READING

This week, we revisit a classic Arthurian tale, savor the Middle Eastern pantry, and explore an influential work about how to conduct propaganda.

NONFICTION

‘Propaganda’ By Edward Bernays

The Art of Deception

This book shaped early ideas about how to conduct propaganda and had a huge influence on marketing, advertising, and later, politics. It’s very relevant for understanding the mechanisms behind what we see on the surface and beyond the deception and manipulation all around us.

IG PUBLISHING, 2004, 175 PAGES

‘Atomic Habits’ By James Clear

Small Changes, Big Results

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement,” author James Clear wrote, emphasizing the importance of small changes and long-term thinking.

He likens the effect of a 1 percent change in one’s habits to a very slight adjustment to the nose of a plane. If a plane begins facing a few degrees off of its aim, it’ll arrive—after a long journey—at an entirely different location than planned.

A valuable book with principles that can be applied to any aspect of life that’s dependent on your behavior, from finance to fitness.

AVERY, 2018, 320 PAGES

FOOD

‘Flavors of the Sun: The Sahadi’s Guide to Understanding, Buying, and Using Middle Eastern Ingredients’ By Christine Sahadi Whelan

A Middle Eastern Pantry Primer

Christine Sahadi Whelan is the culinary director and fourth-generation co-owner of Sahadi’s, New York’s James Beard Award-winning destination grocery store for Middle Eastern specialties.

So who better than Whelan to guide home cooks through buying and using ingredients such as sumac, Aleppo pepper, and date molasses? There are recipes for every course, along with plenty of ideas for incorporating these ingredients into existing favorites

EDUCATION

‘Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling’ By John Taylor Gatto

A Treatise on Public Education

Gatto’s 30-year teaching career in Manhattan earned him the New York City Teacher of the Year award not once, but three times. Named New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991, he issued his resignation that same year.

His book is an eye-opening indictment of the state of our public education system that every parent needs to digest.

NEW SOCIETY PUBLISHERS, 2017, 144 PAGES

FICTION

‘One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Life in the Gulag

Through the eyes of Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, we witness the cruelty of a Soviet labor camp. Falsely accused of spying, Shukov spends his days simply struggling to survive, working while sick, stealing an extra ration of food, and always being on the lookout for something to eat. The story is based on Solzhenitsyn’s personal experience, having spent eight years confined to such a camp. This book is a warning to all of us about totalitarian governments.

BERKLEY, 2009, 208 PAGES

CLASSICS

‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ Author Unknown

A Strange Arthurian Story

Set in the time of King Arthur, this story features a Green Knight, a wager, a beheading—in which the victim survives—temptations, and honor lost and regained. Having beheaded the Green Knight, Sir Gawain must promise to meet him in a year’s time so that the knight may return the blow. Chivalry, romance, and emblems of Christianity all play a part in filling out Sir Gawain’s quest and adventure. J.R.R. Tolkien, whose rendition is used here, was only one of several scholars who translated this late 14th-century poem into modern English.

FOR KIDS

‘Danny and the Dinosaur’ By Syd Hoff

Spending a Day with a Big Friend

While visiting a museum, Danny wishes he could play with a dinosaur, and one of them obliges him. They watch a baseball game, visit the zoo, and play hide-and-seek with Danny’s friends. A sweet story of friendship, this book is a childhood classic.

HARPERCOLLINS, 2017, 72 PAGES

‘Curious George’ By H.A. Rey

A Monkey, a Man, and an Endearing Childhood Tale

In this first story of his adventures, Curious George swims in the ocean, slips out of jail, and goes flying on balloons. The Man in the Yellow Hat then adopts the monkey, leading to more adventures. This story is a delightful childhood tale.

Ian Kane

is a U.S. Army veteran, filmmaker, and author. He enjoys the great outdoors and volunteering.

Epoch Watchlist

MOVIE REVIEWS

Here are some suggestions to lighten up your week,

from a modern Christmas classic to an underrated romance.

NEW RELEASE

West Side Story (2021 )

Steven Spielberg’s modern take on the 1957 original, this film tells a story of forbidden love, racial tension, and violence in New York City. The narrative focuses on the leader (Ansel Elgort) of a street gang, the all-white Jets, as he falls in love with the sister (Rachel Zegler) of the leader of a rival gang, the Puerto Rican Sharks.

It features the usual touchstones of woke political correctness, including divisive racial tension and the shoving of identity politics down everyone’s throats. It also seems designed purely as an Oscar-winning vehicle.

CRIME | DRAMA | MUSICAL Release Date:

Dec. 10, 2021

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Starring:

Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Ariana DeBose

Runtime:

2 hours, 36 minutes

MPAA Rating:

PG-13

Where to Watch:

Theaters

HIGHLY UNDERRATED CHRISTMAS CLASSIC

A Holiday Affair (1949)

WWar widow Connie (Janet Leigh) meets salesman Steve (Robert Mitchum) over the Christmas holidays. Although attracted to Steve, she doesn’t necessarily want to give up the security that lawyer Carl (Wendell Corey) can provide for her and her son.

Stirring romance and laughs uplift what could have been a rather pedestrian holiday yarn, making this a highly underrated film.

COMEDY | DRAMA | ROMANCE Release Date:

Dec. 24, 1949

Director:

Don Hartman

Starring:

Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey

Running Time:

1 hour, 27 minutes

Rating:

Approved

Where to Watch:

HBO Max, Vudu, Apple TV FEEL-GOOD COMEDY

Groundhog

Day (1993)

Pittsburgh meteorologist Phil Connors (Bill Murray) is sent to Punxsutawney, where he covers Groundhog Day each year. Although the day is special to town locals, Phil can’t stand the job or the locale, although he likes Rita (Andie MacDowell), the event’s producer. Phil’s disdain for the town reaches critical levels when he wakes up each consecutive morning and finds himself reliving the same day over and over.

CHRISTMAS COMEDY

Elf (2003)

Buddy (Will Ferrell) is a human who was mistakenly raised as an elf by Santa Claus at the North Pole. Restless about who his biological father is, he travels to New York City and discovers that his dad, Walter Hobbs (James Caan), is not only a mean-spirited person, but also on Santa’s naughty list for Christmas.

A good-natured and modern take on Christmas that should cheer us up in these interesting times, "Elf" explores the themes of gener-

This plot device stays fresh because of the film’s unexpected twists, funny dialogue, and ultimately uplifting message.

COMEDY | FANTASY | ROMANCE Release Date:

Feb. 12, 1993

Director:

Harold Ramis

Starring:

Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot

Runtime:

1 hour, 41 minutes MPAA Rating: PG

osity and selfishness, and innocence and cynicism.

ADVENTURE | COMEDY | FAMILY

Release Date:

Nov. 7, 2003

Director:

Jon Favreau

Starring:

Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart

Running Time:

1 hour, 37 minutes

MPAA Rating:

PG

Where to Watch:

Redbox, Starz, HBO Max