If your speech is to be a story it is especially advisable to have
a reserve on hand, for stories are easily copied and apt to be long
remembered. Care also must be taken that the story is not one with which
persons generally are familiar. A gentleman was in the habit of telling a
story which has already been quoted, the point of which lies in the phrase
"I'm from Boston." Some of his more intimate companions, in self-defense,
would exclaim when he proposed a story, "Is it a mile from Boston?"

The definition of the toast itself or of any of the words in the sentiment
which is the speaker's topic may be made the occasion for drawing in the
illustrative story.

The manner of ending a good story is also worthy of careful study. When an
audience is applauding a palpable "hit," it does not seem an appropriate
time to stop and take one's seat; but it often is the best course. To do
this appears so abrupt that the novice is apt to make a further effort
to finish up the subject till he has finished up his audience as well.
An attempt to fully discuss a topic, under such circumstances, is not
successful once in a hundred times. The best course is to follow an apt
story by some proverb, a popular reference, or a witty turn, and then to
close. But no abruptness will be disliked by your hearers half so much,
as the utterance of a string of commonplaces, after you have once secured
their attention. The richness of the dessert should come at the close, not
at the beginning, of the oratorical feast.




THE PURPOSE OF AFTER-DINNER SPEAKING