Many people get stunned when they hear knocking of the metal fork on the wine glass that follows with the words: "Attention please!" and then "Let's hear what Joan will tell us". The oppressive silence usually emerges after those words. Joan, that gets into an uncomfortable position as a victim, remains alone with many pairs of eyes looking on her with one thought in her head; to become invisible in this moment. Keep in mind that some people like to observe the sacrifices (I think, that this pleasure is in their nature from ancient ancestors who required food and show. Shows!) It doesn't matter whether it is cheerful or sad. That is why they create such awkward situations for other people. For the beginning, forget about all the standard toasts like: "Let's drink for your health", "Wish you wealth and health" and others like that. If you give a toast that everybody in the room can finish, that will be a sad show. If you don't want to be in this kind of situation, then follow the gold rule of the toasts: come up with your own. You can use some toast guides books but always add something unique from yourself. I'll tell you the truth that I don't like many toasts and speeches that I heard in my life. There are just a bunch of empty words and hypocrisy. Last year the chief editor made the New Year speech: "I wish that in the New Year, we will have less bad and more good news." It would look like he gave quite a decent speech, but many people who are working with him know that he is always looking for shocking news and his working motto: "Don't just deliver the shocking information but deliver it in a way that the spectator feels completely hopeless!". They perfectly understood that in practice, the chief-editor in a new year is still going to live under this motto, so they saw all falsity of his words. Often people wish to each other "the best wishes" and then forget about that and their life as usual fills with intrigues, envy, and anger to those people whom they just congratulated. Sometimes drunk scandals begin directly at the table or right after the solemn speeches. Not nice. That is why I don't like many toasts. To eliminate such problems at the holidays and parties, let's arm with the useful knowledge; how to make toasts. Let's learn some rules about the toasts. Have patience and read the blog about toasts. You will see that it is easy, and I think, very soon, you can be convinced of it on practice. |