As if public speaking wasn’t complicated enough, then there’s the roast. When we are asked to prepare a barbecue for someone, we find ourselves walking straight into a social minefield from which there seems to be no way out. If we do a bad job, then the audience will get bored and end up hating you. If you do too good a job, the object of the roast will get angry and end up hating you. What is a speaker to do?
Prepared
If you’ve ever had the opportunity to attend a barbecue or see one done on television, then you know what it’s all about. A group of people who know the guest of honor gathers, and because they know him so well, they are able to stand up and say disrespectful things that make everyone laugh. If this is done well, then the speakers seem almost to be making things up as they speak; however, the reality is that what they are saying requires careful preparation. There is a big difference between joking and insulting.
When hosting a barbecue, you will be required to hurl mild insults at the guest of honor throughout the night. This means you’ll need to do your homework and gather the information you’ll need before the big event. The key here is to collect as much background information as you can.
Since both your audience and your fellow roasters know about the target, you want to make sure that what you say is not only funny, but also relates to the person you’re talking about. This means you have to dive into their past and find out where they went to school, where they worked, who they worked with, and why they left each job. Ultimately, it is the answers to these questions that will provide you with the raw material you will need to create the roast talking points that will be required.
Here
When you host a barbecue, you can control who speaks and when they speak. Typically, you’ll select four or five other people to come up and say a few things about the guest of honor. Let’s be honest here, some people will do a good job with this and some won’t.
Knowing this, you’ll want to make sure no one is scheduled to talk for too long. You’ll want to create a sequence where the speakers go. This sequence must be based on some kind of logical progression. People who knew him at different stages of his life, people who worked with him in different companies, etc.
Delighted
The success or failure of a roast ultimately comes down to content. When putting together what you are going to say, there are a few things to keep in mind.
You want to make sure your jokes relate to things the audience knows aren’t true (“…when you robbed that bank last week…”). Stay away from things you can’t decide if she’s joking about or not (“her wife tells me she’s still hitting her”).
The best humor comes when you make fun of the guest of honor about the things they make fun of themselves. For example, if the target can’t spell very well and is always complaining about it, feel free to tease him.
Finally, it’s always safe to make fun of things that the guest of honor doesn’t really care about. This could include a comment about the time his boat sank because they forgot to plug a hole. Stay away from items like if you are too short, too fat, too bald.
What all this means to you
Preparing a barbecue that provides a good-natured banter for the guest of honor without offending them or the audience can be a real challenge. Speakers who are asked to take on this task should realize that if done incorrectly, they can get themselves into a lot of hot water.
To successfully host a barbecue, you’ll need to do your homework. You will need to gather a lot of information about the guest of honor. This includes both background information and stories. Next, you’ll need to organize how the roast will take place: sequencing the presenters and stringing together their introductions. Finally, your material should be carefully edited so that it makes everyone laugh, but doesn’t offend.
The next time you’re asked to host a barbecue, you don’t have to say no or run out the door. Instead, use the tips we’ve discussed and do a great job of showing the star of the show how much you appreciate them by teasing them in a positive way.
