Last night, I was really entertained by his speech and delivery. I knew that he had put a great deal of effort to poke fun at me in a good-natured way. Quoted from the manual: "Used in the speaking sense, the word 'roast' implies that heat is being applied to someone - that someone is being 'cooked' or embarrassed in some way. Actually, a roast can be considered a positive recognition, in which an individual and his or her achievements are honored by friends, co-workers and family. A roast relies on wit, humor and satire to convey the message."
So, here is the script of Matthew's speech and I hope you enjoy reading it.
"You know I'm bad, I'm bad, you know it, you know I'm bad..."
My fellow Toastmasters and guests. When I first thought about doing this Roast Speech on Wivina, I thought it was going to be really hard because Wivina is such a nice person - she is not bad at all. What would I talk about? But then I got to know her a bit more and here are some of the things I thought about.
Now - there is no doubt about it - Wivina likes to sing and she often starts a speech by singing just like I did at the opening here. So, when I heard that she used to be a radio announcer when she was 15, well it made me wonder - what she was like on the radio? Hmmm...
"And the time is five minutes past ten, next we have the weather coming up, but first a song from me: "I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane..."
"That was the latest song from the Rolling Stones, almost as good as the song from my first album "I Believe the Children are Our Future, Teach Them Well."
I was also surprised to learn that Wivina thinks she is a serious person. Serious? I've never heard someone laugh so much every single meeting we have! Does this look like the face of a serious person to you? I don't even have to pay her to laugh at my jokes - I love having her around.
Speaking of love, it's no secret and no surprise that Wivina has many admirers - they contact her from her facebook site. Even though she has been married for 19 years, they still contact her. What did you do to them 19 years ago??? My parents have been married for 39 years and none of their old partners contacts them - that I know of.
And, many of you know that besides Facebook, Wivina has a blog. I think she has this just in case many admirers from her youth miss her Facebook account. It's like bait, that she casts lure them all in. And if that doesn't work, well at least you could always write a book. Oh wait - no, you already are. Hmmm...
No, it's not true - Wivina is a very family oriented person - she still loves her husband very much. I mean we all hear about him, don't we? Every time she gets up to speak. Have you ever noticed that? My husband this, my husband that. In every speech!
Did you know her husband once told her... He said, "You are an endangered species and should be put into a museum." Now - I was a bit confused - is that because you were rare and priceless, or because he just wanted you out of the house for a while?
But, let's move on to her Toastmasters career. The speech that Wivina was most the proud of giving was her Basic Manual number 10 "Inspire Your Audience" which she called "Pour Your Heart Into It." This was no surprise to me - I see Wivina as someone that likes to inspire people, and I know that she has inspired me a lot. For instance, she has inspired me to NEVER SING ON STAGE. She has inspired me to laugh quietly and calmly in a PROPER manner. And she has inspired me to participate fully and become a member of any Toastmasters clubs that I have been involved in. Many of you know that Wivina is not actually a member of this club. But we are hoping she will become a member soon...
Now I would like to say that after I have come to know Wivina a bit better, I can see that she has grown so much over her life, and I respect this all the more as I know that her family life has not always been easy. This is of course quite different from my family, where my parents didn't have to struggle at all to raise the three of us children.
So - to finish off, I would like to thank you for being willing to be the subject of my humble little speech tonight. I think that all of your experience have helped you appreciate life all the more. She once said that she considers herself to be the "luckiest person in the world." And well, I think that if you aren't the luckiest person in the world, then I would say that your husband must be the luckiest person in the world to have you.
