Posted on 09/15/2025 5:27:20 AM PDT by Cowman
My folks are getting ready to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary and I have the honor of giving a speech to honor them and the occasion. I am the youngest of 4 and the only one of their children to be in attendance. I need ideas on how to pull this together. I'm not a public speaker. I prefer written communication but after several years in a technical career I write like a lab report or shop manual. I thought of outlining all of the history and societal changes they have been through (their first home cost $10500 for a 3br cape and my dad built it himself.) Or should I stick to their strong faith and working with church and mission functions?
This is probably obvious, but avoid talking about yourself or your branch of the family.
Talk about the couple and, better, talk about the couple and people in the audience.
Also, when using a microphone, talk into it like you’re about to kiss it, especially if you are outdoors or there is wind.
Does this presentation location allow for the use of visual media; e.g. photos on the “big screen”?
A photo chronology of their important milestones and other key events could serve as the framework to link it all together for you.
75th anniversary — wow, what a blessing.
You’re on the right track. Your outline should be a timeline of events. Start from before the beginning, tell stories, sprinkle-in some important years. It won’t be good if you just drone on with facts. Keep it under 10 minutes and tell funny, sad, important and personal stories. Seriously, recount actual events in an interesting way that show your parents positively. A benefit of this is that you already know the story so there is no memorizing needed. Also, as previously mentioned, keep your mouth as close to the microphone as you can get it. You should be close enough so that your lips touch it while you’re speaking. Also, it’s fine to read it verbatim from large print, numbered pages. Video record yourself reading it at least 10 times and watch it 10 times. You’ll end up with a great testimony. Good luck.
start with a joke...
after 75 years together we brought all their friends together to celebrate, the three of them who were alive, asked if we could wrap this up by 430 so they could make the early bird special at the diner.
Open with a prayer of thanksgiving for them
You can say a gentle joke or recall an amusing story.
And your heartfelt stories as you said.
Then tell them how much you love them.
What a beautiful thing to get to do.
Sounds like you've got your opening lines down. Just be you.
There are all sorts of things to pursue.
As one who recently celebrated 65 years of marriage, I would suggest thinking of mutual assistance.
It takes two to tango. It takes a conscious effort for mutual support of one’s spouse to just live from day to day when you are old.
When I had to give a speech, I always reminded myself of the Gettysburg Address: “ The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did….”
If you keep in mind that you are not the “star” of the show, it will be easier to be yourself and get the message about “them”. (I am not ‘slamming you’ but trying to give a perspective.)
I always started the process by writing down, in plain language, what you want to say. Often times that draft was full of phrasing that would never fly…but it got the thoughts down on paper. It was a foundation that could be built upon.
The first thing you need is a theme. Write down the basis of the “speech.” Then ask yourself, “So what?” What is important about that? What is impressive about that. What makes them so special? Why is this important to YOU?
75 years is a great run. They are a great example for the rest of us should aspire.
Remember, your role is a couple of minutes highlighting what most people there already know. Don’t sweat it. It’s a labor of love. You honor them by taking it so seriously.
Start and end while pointing out that over all of those 75 years of ups and downs , thick and thin that they stuck it out and as TEAM PREVAILED over All that Life tossed Their way. Including all the things that You,. Your Brothers and Sisters got away with and then be ready for the inevitability, but they know about a lot of the things Y’All thought were pulled off…
And Please Thank Them both for being a part of The Greatest Generation to help Defeat the Axis Powers allowing Our Generation to have the opportunity and freedom’s We currently have .
Create a rough out,ine usi g the great suggestions in this thread, then run it through an ai, but only as a means of suggesting how to word things that you think you said clumsily. And dont copy and paste, but use. The ai suggestions as a place to start to refine your own personal message. Claude ai is pretty good at helping to stylize writing. Just avoid the more flowery stuff it might suggest, and use your own descriptiveness, but the suggestions might spark ideas of your own to add in.
Maybe talk a little about what life was like 75 years ago. A LOT has happened since 1950!
Come up with a central theme and 2-3 anecdotes that back it up, and then reiterate the theme (hard work, dependability, faith, etc.) at the end of the speech.
And remember to keep in Your mind that the entire audience is sitting out there Buck Naked while they are listening to You and their minds are hearing “Blah, Blah, Blah…
Maybe you’ll find a few helpful ideas from this brief speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPFCn3itBFE
You will never be able to say everything that you might want to say. I like the three anecdote limit.
My wife and I are the same age.
We married at age twenty.
I’m trying to figure out what to at our 50th! in two
years.
75 years! Is phenomenal!
It all is this simple.
You love each other and you don’t
toss them out like trash.
BTW my wife and I still fight
like cats and dogs.
You are blessed. Congratulations, I’m sure you’ll do a great job honoring them.
75 times around the Sun together and all of the changes and events they’ve seen. Make note of the number of days, hours and minutes and the ways they spent that time. Remind everyone that time is fleeting and moves as fast as a hummingbirds wings but love is timeless and lasts forever. Good luck and Gid Bless.
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