The 40th Birthday Speech - How to Write a Good One

You've got the task of preparing a 40th birthday speech.

You want it to be a 3 minute dazzler to mark the milestone occasion however right now the job feels like a millstone.

There are lists of things to say and equally large lists of things not to say but not a lot about how to actually write the speech.

The 40th Birthday Speech - How to Write a Good One

And that's where having step by step outline and a 40th birthday speech sample to look at would be good.

As of now you can quit tearing out your hair. Instead grab a piece of paper and a pen. We're going to go through the steps needed for you to have a completed 40th birthday speech that you'll be proud to deliver.

Let's start by getting down to basics with a few questions first.

Who is your audience? Is it family? Is it family and friends? Is it a mix of family, friends and work colleagues? Are they a mix of ages? What type of celebration is it? Is it a formal dinner party? Is it informal? Are you the only speaker or one of several?

The tone and what you put in your speech will be guided by your answers to the questions above. Obviously you'll leave out anything that could be misunderstood or inappropriate for your audience.

Now let's get the building blocks of your 40th birthday speech together.

On your paper write down these 3 headings with large enough spaces in between for notes.

1. Introduction 2. Middle - Main idea 1, Main idea 2, Main idea 3 3. Conclusion

Using your knowledge of the audience, the birthday person and the occasion, begin filling in the blanks.

For instance next to 'Introduction' you might write: Hi and welcome to Bob's 40th birthday celebration. We're delighted to have you all with us.

And now move on to the next heading: Middle.
This is where you're going to put the most important points (main ideas) you want to make. As a birthday speech is generally only 3 minutes long you've got enough room for three. What you choose is up to you. Mostly though they're a mix of good natured fun about the birthday person, what they mean to you and perhaps a word or two of wisdom.

So your 'Middle' notes may look like this.

Main Idea 1: Childhood - I remember when Bob was 3 he wanted to be a fireman. He'd spend all day making siren noises and putting out imaginary fires with the garden hose. Main Idea 2: Youth/Young adulthood - Collecting baseball cards, learning to skate board, getting his first real job Main Idea 3: Present/Character/ Future - Along came Sally (wife) and children, joy, fatherhood, responsibility, promotion in job

Lastly write your notes next 'Conclusion': quote (you're going to look up some amusing or witty quotes on being 40 and weave one in here) and final toast. Example. 'Ladies and gentlemen, let's raise our glasses to Bob. May you have another happy energy filled 40 years!'

OK. This isn't a speech yet but it is an outline. To make the transition from this to a whole 40th birthday speech you are going to go back through and flesh out your notes making each idea link smoothly to the next.

The easiest way I know of doing this is to say it out loud as if you're just chatting with a friend.

I'll give you one example and then you can do the remainder for yourself.
We'll pick up

Main Idea 1. 'I remember when Bob was 3 he wanted to be a fireman. He'd spend all day making siren noises and putting out imaginary fires with the garden hose'.
What's needed is a bridge or transition to get from this idea to the next, 'collecting baseball cards, learning to skateboard and so on.

How about this? 'Fortunately for Aunty Betty's ears his next passion was quiet and neither did it leave puddles in the yard. It was baseball cards. Bob collected hundreds of them. He bartered for them, begged for them and stuck them all over his bedroom walls. Now he was Denny McLain with the roar of crowds as he stepped up to the plate cheering him on. Baseball was struck out by skateboards. Yehaa! We skated all over the city and Aunty Betty bought out the entire supply of band-aids from the supermarket...'

Now you have the idea, repeat it through all the parts of your outline.
It's important to say each segment outloud and experiment with links until you find the one that sounds right.

When you've finished linking say the whole speech aloud several times. Listen carefully and edit where necessary.

The process is simple. It works and that's how to write a unique 40th birthday speech you'll be pleased to deliver.

PS Do you want to see a finished sample before you begin your own writing? You'll find links to handy pages of witty and wise birthday quotations too.

The 40th Birthday Speech Sample

The 40th Birthday Speech - How to Write a Good One
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Are you ready to trade public speaking fear for public speaking success?
You'll find practical, manageable step by step resources to take you there at write-out-loud.com
Susan Dugdale is an ex-teacher, writer and word lover. She regularly practices what she preaches.

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Public Speaking - How to Get on the "Speaking Circuit"

"I have to get on the public speaking circuit."

As a professional speaker, I can't tell you how many times I have heard that exact phrase from people who would like to add public speaking as either their main or a supplemental source of income to their business or career.

I have been professionally speaking in many capacities since I began my career in 1992, always in front of audiences for one thing or another.  So people naturally ask me all the time,

Public Speaking - How to Get on the "Speaking Circuit"

"How do I get on the speaking circuit?"

Here's the thing.  It's a big secret we speakers keep to ourselves so we know when we're talking to a fellow speaker or just someone who thinks they may want to be on stage somewhere someday.

There IS NO speaking circuit.

None.

Zippo.

Zilch.

Nada.

So unless you want to look like a total beginner, stop saying you want to get on some type of circuit. Seriously there is none.

Let's look for a moment at the definition of "circuit" according to Dictionary.com:

"a periodical journey from place to place, to perform certain duties, as by judges to hold court, ministers to preach, or salespeople covering a route."

and

"a number of theaters, nightclubs, etc., controlled by the same owner or manager or visited in turn by the same entertainers or acting companies."

Perhaps in the acting or preaching industries there may be a circuit.  And in fact, this could be where some of the confusion around the topic comes from, especially because public speaking can often involve travel "from place to place."  But make no mistake, there are not many professional stages that qualify as a "circuit."

Every speech you are booked for is usually just for that one stage and that one occasion.  And that's it.

To others on the outside of the speaking business it may appear there is some sort of speaking circuit.  That's because in certain niche markets a handful -- say 20-30 of the most popular speakers often appear at various events together or in some combination at the events for that niche market. 

And how do those same speakers get hired time and again? Simple: results. The information they share gets the audience the results they want.  When audiences are happy, event planners are happy.  When event planners and audiences are happy, speakers get a good reputation.  And that's what gets you the next speaking gig.

So don't despair that there isn't really a speaking circuit. Because as you get hired and continue to market yourself and grow as a speaker, the opportunities will flow to you as easily as if there was a public speaking circuit.

Public Speaking - How to Get on the "Speaking Circuit"
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Public speaking is one of the most effective ways to market a small business. I invite you to discover how to create your own talk and the 5 easy steps you can take today to get started with this powerful marketing tool. Pick up a FREE recording where you'll get all the secrets of marketing your business with a speech. Go now to http://www.SignatureSpeechSecrets.com

Felicia J. Slattery, M.A., M.Ad.Ed. is a communication consultant, speaker & coach specializing in training small and home-based business owners effective communication and public speaking skills so they can see more cash flow now.

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Public Speaking - 4 Simple Steps to More Impactful Speech Content

The process of developing the content of your speech is fundamentally important to effective public speaking. Meaningful content is critical to writing a great speech and without it the presenting skills of voice, language, body language and gestures are of little use to the listeners or the speaker.

The process of developing the content of your speech can be frustrating and use up a vast amount of time. But you can use a 4 step process to simplify and streamline the development of content for your speech.

1. Decide on the Purpose

Public Speaking - 4 Simple Steps to More Impactful Speech Content

The purpose of the speech must justify the time and energy put into it by you as speaker and by the audience listening to it. The speech purpose needs to answer the question "What will this presentation do for my audience? The considerations to keep in mind when deciding on the purpose are;-

(i) How will the presentation benefit the audience?
(ii) Is it appropriate for the audience?
(iii) Is the speech being given for entertainment or is a specific action wanted from the audience
(iv) The circumstances and situation of the speech, e.g. at a charity fund raising event your talk will be delivered to raise money

2. Developing the Theme

Your theme should be stated in a clear, brief and meaningful statement. The theme chosen must be able to be developed to accomplish the purpose. To develop the theme you will need to keep in mind a clear picture of the audience and in your judgement

(i) Has the greatest influence on your audience
(ii) It can be developed successfully for your audience
(iii) It supports the purpose
(iv) The audience characteristics such as age, number, experience, attitude etc

3. Selecting the Style of The Presentation

The style(s) chosen to deliver your speech must support the purpose of the speech and it will determine the type of information you need to gather in the research step.

There are 2 criteria you can use to select the style of your speech:

(i) The purpose for speaking
(ii) Audience's attitude and understanding

The 5 styles that can be used in delivering your speech are:

(i) Humor - the principal idea is to entertain the audience
(ii) Narrative - used to tell a story of people, places and events
(iii) Exposition - used to describe, explain or demonstrate an idea
(iv) Argument - presentation of facts and other evidence to support your ideas
(v) Motivation - uses emotional appeals to the audience to take a certain action

Humor and narration are more likely to be utilised when the audience is to be entertained. Argument and motivation are usually used when a specific action is wanted from the audience.

4. Research

The goal of research is to uncover information to support and justify the theme and ideas of the speech. The first step in research is to develop a rough outline of your speech so that the research is properly focussed.

The primary source of information should be your own experiences. Once you have exhausted your experience, there are many other sources of information that can be utilised. The other sources include books, films, TV, interviewing other people and of course the internet. When using these sources it is important to use your judgement as to the validity of the information.

You will now have the content necessary to outline, organize and write and deliver your speech . Mastery of the process of developing the content will enable you to write and deliver a speech that is of benefit to the audience. With the knowledge that your content is valuable to your listeners your confidence will increase and you will enjoy the experience of public speaking more.

Public Speaking - 4 Simple Steps to More Impactful Speech Content
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Discover how to speak with confidence in public speaking and in private conversation. To claim your free preview of The Art of Great Conversation visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com

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