by Dale Carnegie and Joseph B. Esenwein It is a manual for people who have to speak in public, and it is still in use today. Whether the occasion in question is sharing travel experiences with friends, a toast for newly-weds, or a public debate, the tips and tricks collected in this book will come handy anywhere.
The wedding toast - that poignantly tender gesture proposed to the newlyweds, a mysterious melding of poetry, quotations, prayer, wit, anecdote, and heart-rendered sentiment. Why so mysterious? Because the wedding toast has evolved through the years from a simple "To your health and happiness" to a soliloquy that requires personalization, preparation, practice, and presentation. It's enough to scare you half to death! In fact, statistics show that, next to dying, public speaking is most Americans' greatest fear, and the fear is understandable.
Nothing so frightens a man as the announcement that he is expected to respond to a toast on some appallingly nearby occasion. All ideas he may ever have had on the subject melt away and like a drowning man he clutches furiously at the nearest solid object - this book is intended for such rescue purpose.
Let the frightened toaster turn first to the key word of his topic in this dictionary alphabet of selections and by chance he may find toast, story, definition or verse that may introduce his remarks. Then as he proceeds to outline his talk and to put it into sentences, he may find under one of the many subject headings a bit which will happily drive home the ideas he is unfolding.
While the larger part of the contents is humorous, there are inserted many quotations of a serious nature which may serve as appropriate literary ballast. The jokes and quotes gathered for the toaster have been placed under the subject headings where it seemed that they might be most useful, even at the risk of the joke turning on the compilers.
The Toaster's Handbook contains dozens upon dozens of jokes, quips, anecdotes and quotations to equip you with enough ideas to properly respond to a toast in any occasion.
