{"id":1198,"date":"2015-06-19T09:18:17","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T09:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198"},"modified":"2015-06-19T09:18:17","modified_gmt":"2015-06-19T09:18:17","slug":"making-a-great-toast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198","title":{"rendered":"Making a Great Toast"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am hopelessly\u00a0bad at this. I get tongue tied, lose my train of thought, and forget something I wanted to say.<\/p>\n

Someone shared this<\/a> with me, and I thought it was great. Even more, I witnessed him make a fantastic toast: it was heartfelt, touching, and wonderful. The secret? <\/p>\n

Something the author calls “the rhythmic build”. As per the author, “Rhythmic builds are repetitions\u2014groups of phrases that incorporate parallel structure to emphasize key points.”<\/p>\n

Here’s what Anett Grant says:<\/p>\n

<\/a>1. Talk About Your Audience<\/h4>\n

An example of the first part of the formula:<\/p>\n

Some of you<\/strong> have been with us<\/span> for many years, and I\u2019m so impressed<\/span> <\/strong>with your dedication.
\nSome of you<\/strong> have been with us<\/span> for just a few months, and I\u2019m so impressed<\/span> <\/strong>with how quickly you\u2019ve become a part of the team.
\nAnd some of you have<\/strong> been with us<\/span> for just a few weeks, and I\u2019m so impressed<\/span> <\/strong>with your enthusiasm.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>2. Explain Why You\u2019re Together<\/strong><\/p>\n

This part is the core of your toast; remind everyone why you\u2019ve come together. Here\u2019s how it could look:<\/p>\n

So today, let\u2019s celebrate<\/span> <\/strong>how far we\u2019ve come on our journey together.
\nLet\u2019s celebrate<\/span> <\/strong>not just the company\u2019s success, but our individual successes.
\nAnd let\u2019s celebrate<\/span> <\/strong>the fact that we have nothing but a bright future to look forward to.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/a>3. Focus On The Future<\/h4>\n

To close, you end with one last build. Here is one way you could end, with an aspirational look to the future:<\/p>\n

So raise your glasses and join me as we look forward
\nto new<\/span><\/strong> challenges,
\nto new<\/span><\/strong> successes,
\nand to new<\/span><\/strong> friends!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isn’t this great and simple? I’m looking forward to trying this.<\/p>\n

So next time, remember this. And practice until it just falls off your tongue.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am hopelessly\u00a0bad at this. I get tongue tied, lose my train of thought, and forget something I wanted to say. Someone shared this with me, and I thought it was great. Even more, I witnessed him make a fantastic toast: it was heartfelt, touching, and wonderful. The secret?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[23,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-perform-better"],"yoast_head":"\nMaking a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Making a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I am hopelessly\u00a0bad at this. I get tongue tied, lose my train of thought, and forget something I wanted to say. Someone shared this with me, and I thought it was great. Even more, I witnessed him make a fantastic toast: it was heartfelt, touching, and wonderful. The secret?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"My Lessons Learned\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast-1024x683.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mylessonslearned.co\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mylessonslearned.co\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mylessonslearned.co\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b\"},\"headline\":\"Making a Great Toast\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198\"},\"wordCount\":312,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Leadership\",\"Perform Better\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198\",\"name\":\"Making a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1\",\"width\":3888,\"height\":2592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?p=1198#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Making a Great Toast\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/\",\"name\":\"My Lessons Learned\",\"description\":\"(and still learning)\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b\",\"name\":\"Mylessonslearned.co\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mylessonslearned.co\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/mylessonslearned.co\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Making a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Making a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned","og_description":"I am hopelessly\u00a0bad at this. I get tongue tied, lose my train of thought, and forget something I wanted to say. Someone shared this with me, and I thought it was great. Even more, I witnessed him make a fantastic toast: it was heartfelt, touching, and wonderful. The secret?","og_url":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198","og_site_name":"My Lessons Learned","article_published_time":"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast-1024x683.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mylessonslearned.co","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mylessonslearned.co","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198"},"author":{"name":"Mylessonslearned.co","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/#\/schema\/person\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b"},"headline":"Making a Great Toast","datePublished":"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198"},"wordCount":312,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1","articleSection":["Leadership","Perform Better"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198","url":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198","name":"Making a Great Toast - My Lessons Learned","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1","datePublished":"2015-06-19T09:18:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/#\/schema\/person\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1","width":3888,"height":2592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?p=1198#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Making a Great Toast"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/#website","url":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/","name":"My Lessons Learned","description":"(and still learning)","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/#\/schema\/person\/eb1c7092243063c426cc3a3d2063da4b","name":"Mylessonslearned.co","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f4eec5114c11cee3db7bfb9335855c39ac01b1166422a88fccbc56d5fbd2f339?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mylessonslearned.co"},"url":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/?author=1"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5P6Ou-jk","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mylessonslearned.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/toast.jpg?fit=3888%2C2592&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1198"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1208,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1198\/revisions\/1208"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mylessonslearned.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}