subject: How Inspirational Will An After Dinner Presenter Be? [print this page] Formal dinners are popular social occasions where invited guests have the opportunity to engage with the peers conversationally. Urbanity, sophistication and social acceptability are all high on the intellectual menu and probably more important to guests than the gastronomic pleasures. In this scenario the after dinner speaker becomes a very important personage in the evening.
A public after dinner speaker needs to judge his audience shrewdly. Not only must he sense their mood, but he must also judge the tone that will be acceptable to his audience and then, in the course of his speech, persuade, cajole, console or entertain as the case may be. Almost always a speaker at a convivial gathering where food, drink and conversation have been enjoyed will be expected to add to the entertainment.
In order to ensure a happy ending to the evening it is important for a host or event organizer to secure a capable speaker. A balance must be found between competence and reputation. A sport celebrity may be of interest in view of achievements in hitting or catching balls, but be a dullard when it comes to conversation or speech.
However, guests might feel let down if a local mediocrity who the diners know well is invited to be the guest of honor. This means that event organizers need to select from quite a short list of celebrities who are also accomplished speakers.
A person who has managed some sort of celebrity status, even it is entirely undeserved, is likely to bring in invitations to speak at formal dinners. For a person who may have been picked for a team but have very little public speaking expertise this can be a testing time. The path from fame to fortune can be slippery.
Some people are born raconteurs. Without any training they can instinctively tell a joke with perfect timing and nuance so that an audience will fall about in laughter. Another person without those inherited aptitudes may tell exactly the same joke, downloaded word for word from the Internet and be met only by blank stares and polite murmurs. Nevertheless anyone who becomes famous, if only briefly, may be invited to speak at least once.
Preparation might start with reflection on a few serious or relevant points that might pertain to the audience in question. These can serve as a sort of insurance policy. Should no-one laugh or even smile at any jokes or witticisms the speaker can at least follow a logical theme and end by having said something relevant and purposeful. This will be some compensation if those two rows of faces remain blank and unsmiling.
Delivery will always be the difficult part. A few simple rules can solve difficulties. The first rule is to audibly address a person at the far end of the table, remembering the serious thread that has been worked out. Second, a speaker should put aside self-consciousness and concentrate on cloaking the points that he has to make with irony, hyperbole, analogy and such specific ploys that have served entertaining speakers for centuries. If this is graciously done many other invitations to be an after dinner speaker will surely follow.
