About Birthday Speeches

Series Summary

Birthdays celebrate our children’s yearly aging; we put a mark on the pantry door, give them a little more responsibility and a later bedtime, and celebrate their coming of age with a party in their honor. Other landmarks ages throughout adulthood, however, garner more sophisticated celebrations and ceremonies. Birthday parties for important people, patriarchs or matriarchs of large families, or accomplished loved ones can be formal evenings. The power of the birthday party tradition is evidenced in children who carry chips on their shoulder well into their twenties and thirties because of parents skipping the obligatory sixteenth birthday celebration. A truly American sentiment.

In this free video series on giving a great birthday speech, award-winning public speaker Tracy Goodwin covers all the components of a good birthday speech. Tracy teaches you how to bring in nicknames, pet topics, the real age, hobbies, and talents of your loved one. You will also learn the basics of toasting and roasting, presenting a gift, and offering a time line of the party. Your birthday speech will be much better after listening to Tracy and seeing her free sample speech.

Video Transcript

"Hey, this is Tracey Goodwin, I am the "Red Sweater Lady" and today I am going to teach you how to write and deliver a birthday speech. A great birthday speech in fact. Now, we are going to cover a lot things that you should do, what you shouldn't do and how to write it. And, in the process of talking about all of those things, you are going to understand how to give a great birthday speech. Now, traditionally birthday speeches only happen at milestone occasions, but you never know when you are going to be asked to give one, so you really want to be prepared. Because, birthdays to a lot of people are super super special. And, you might want to go ahead and get those gift ideas in your head, because, as the birthday presenter, not only are you going to present a speech, but you are going to present the gift. So get ready, this is going to be fun. Let's go."