Below is the full speech, laid out the way it would appear on cue cards: one beat per card, each with a short heading so you can see where you are at a glance. Read it through once for the shape, then use the notes underneath to make it yours.
The speech
Can I have everyone’s attention for two minutes? I promise it’s only two, because Karen has told me there is cake and she is watching the clock. [SMILE]
I’m Lisa. Karen and I met twenty-two years ago at a terrible office job, where we both pretended to understand the photocopier. We quit within a month of each other, and we have been friends ever since. Two weddings, three house moves, one very questionable haircut and a lot of long phone calls later, here we are.
Karen is the person who says yes. Yes to a road trip on a Tuesday. Yes to learning the cello at forty-five. Yes to hosting Christmas for twenty people in a two-bedroom flat. [PAUSE] Most of us talk about doing things. Karen books the tickets.
She is also the person you call at two in the morning. When my dad was in hospital, Karen drove four hours, sat with me all night, and never once mentioned that she had work in the morning. That is who she is.
And she is the person who makes everyone else feel included. At every party Karen has ever hosted, she finds the one guest standing alone by the snacks and introduces them to three people. Half the friendships in this room started that way. Look around: some of you only know each other because of her.
So, fifty. Karen, you are louder, braver and more fun at fifty than most of us were at twenty. If this is the halfway point, I can’t wait to see what you say yes to next.
Please raise your glasses. To Karen: fifty years of saying yes, and many more to come. Happy birthday!
Open this speech as cue cards to edit it, change the text size and print it.
Make it your own
- A toast should be short. Two or three minutes is plenty at a party.
- Pair one funny story with one kind one. The contrast is what makes a toast feel complete.
- Avoid jokes about age that the guest of honour might not enjoy hearing in public.
- Change the number and the stories and this works for a 30th, 40th, 60th or 70th.
Work through the cards in order. For each one, ask what job it is doing (introducing you, showing a trait, thanking people, asking the room to act) and write your own version that does the same job. Keep each card to one idea. If a card gets too long to glance at, split it in two.
How to deliver it
Rehearse out loud at least three times, standing up, holding the cards you will use on the day. The first run is for finding the awkward sentences, the second for timing, and the third for looking up. Try to say the first line of each card while looking at the audience, then glance down only to find the next prompt.
Slow down more than feels natural, especially after a punchline or an emotional line. Cues in square brackets, such as [PAUSE], are reminders for you, not words to say. Number your cards, hold them at chest height, and move each finished card to the back of the stack. If you are using a microphone, hold it in one hand and the cards in the other.
For more on this kind of speech, read the how to give a toast, or go back to all speech examples.