How to Write a Speech Roasting a Friend
A roast is a comedic celebration of a specific person's life or accomplishments where multiple people make humorous and playfully insulting comments about the roastee. Generally, those invited to such events are personal friends, family and admirers of the person to be roasted. If you are asked to participate in the roast of a friend, you can take several steps to create a memorable roast speech.
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Instructions
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Ask the event organizer if there are any particular topics that they would prefer that you cover. Often during a roast, speakers take turns, discussing one topic in particular such as a specific event in the roastee's life.
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Ask any other speakers which topics they will be covering. Ideally, you want your speech to stand out from the other presented and not cover redundant material or topics. You may also wish to hear the other speeches or their rough drafts to get a feeling for the appropriate tone and shock value. You don't want to present a shocking speech full of expletives if the other participants are giving witty, yet tasteful speeches. On the other hand, if the other roasters are taking an extreme approach, full of shock value and drama, you should craft your speech accordingly to avoid having the most boring speech at the event.
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Think of general content for your speech. Write down funny, entertaining, wild and crazy events that you have experienced with your friend. Think back to when the two of you first met and all points since then and the present date. Write down qualities that you both dislike and admire in your friend and well as any positive accomplishments that your friend has earned.
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Begin your speech by providing a funny, insulting or shocking story or fact about your friend. Often the first half of a roast is filled with sarcastic, humiliating or comedic stories about your friend. Consider your friend's personality and use that as a barometer for the degree of insult that you put in your speech. If you know that certain situations were traumatic or would cause your friend to become upset, leave them out. End your speech with admiration and praise for your friend. Talk about the qualities that you admire or the great accomplishments that they've pursued.
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Tips & Warnings
Ideally, a roast speech should last between three and six minutes. One to two pages of typed text, read at a reasonable pace, should put you within this range. Don't worry about completely memorizing your speech; it is appropriate to use note cards in order to remember important points.
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Resources
- Photo Credit microphone image by Stepanov from Fotolia.com
