---
title: How to Give a Toast at a Black Tie Dinner That People Remember, From the Loyal Toast to Your Last Line
description: How to write and deliver a two-minute toast at a black tie dinner, plus the etiquette of the loyal toast, raising your glass and being toasted yourself.
author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-11-09T09:44:37.824Z
updated: 2026-11-09T09:44:37.837Z
canonical: https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/how-to-give-a-toast-black-tie-dinner
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-8790847.webp
categories: Lifestyle
content_type: Guide
region: United Kingdom
publication: Rich Man Magazine
schema_type: HowTo
howto:
---

Sooner or later in [black tie season](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/black-tie-season-velvet-dinner-jacket-party-plan), someone at the top table turns to you and asks if you would say a few words. A hundred faces turn towards you, and you have about two minutes to make them glad you stood up. The good news is that a memorable toast follows a simple pattern, and you can learn it this week.

## Where the Word Toast Comes From

People have drunk to each other's health since ancient times, but the English word comes from the old habit of dropping a piece of spiced, browned bread into a cup of wine or ale to flavour it. Shakespeare's Falstaff calls for a quart of sack with 'a toast in't'. By around 1700, the word had moved from the bread to the person whose health was being drunk, and then to the words spoken in their honour. The toastmaster, appointed to announce the toasts at a public dinner, appears in print by 1749.

## The Loyal Toast Comes First

At formal dinners in Britain and across much of the Commonwealth, the first toast of the evening is to the sovereign. The host or presiding officer proposes it, usually once the meal is over, and everyone rises, raises a glass and says 'The King'. Nobody clinks glasses, and everyone sits down again afterwards. Strictly, nobody should leave the table before the loyal toast, so plan any exit accordingly.

If you do not drink alcohol, raise whatever is in your glass. One City livery company's guidance for its members states plainly that the loyal toast may be drunk with water. A few regiments, ships and colleges keep their own customs, such as drinking the loyal toast seated, so follow the room. At a City livery dinner, you can expect several toasts and speeches after the loyal toast, often five toasts and three speeches.

## How Long a Toast Should Be

Two minutes is enough for almost any toast, and three is the outer limit after dinner. At a normal speaking pace of around 130 to 150 words a minute, that means roughly 250 to 400 words. If you are proposing a toast rather than giving the main speech of the evening, aim for the shorter end.

## How to Structure a Toast

**Open with who you are.** Give your name and how you know the person or organisation you are toasting in one sentence. Half the room may not know you.

**Tell one story.** Choose a single, specific moment that shows the person at their best: the night he drove four hours to collect a stranded colleague, or the deal she saved with one phone call. One story told well stays with people longer than five anecdotes listed. Leave out in-jokes that only three people at the table will understand.

**Say what the story means.** Use one or two sentences to turn the story into something the whole room recognises, such as loyalty, nerve, generosity or humour under pressure.

**Raise your glass and name the toast.** End with a clear instruction: 'Please stand and raise your glasses to Richard.' The room needs to know exactly when to stand, what to say and when to drink. People remember the high point and the ending of an experience far more than its middle, so your last line carries more weight than any other.

## How to Deliver a Toast Without Notes

**Write it yourself, then say it aloud.** A toast written by someone else, or by a chatbot, sounds borrowed the moment you speak it, and you will remember your own words far better than [words you did not write](https://www.richmanmagazine.com/article/ai-human-potential-progress-or-stagnation). Read your draft aloud and cut every sentence you trip over.

**Learn the first and last lines word for word.** The opening carries you past the first rush of nerves, and the closing line lands the toast. You can tell the middle from memory, like any story you have told before.

**Rehearse on your feet.** Practise standing up, glass in hand, at least five times. Time yourself and cut until you reach two minutes.

**Stand still and look up.** Plant your feet, hold your glass at chest height until the final line and look at faces around the room rather than at one table.

**Ask for attention with your voice.** Tapping a glass with a knife is frowned upon at a formal dinner. Stand, pause and say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention for a moment.' If there is a toastmaster, the toastmaster will call the room to order for you.

**Keep to one glass before you speak.** Have water within reach, and save the second glass for after you sit down.

## What to Do When You Are Toasted

If the toast is to you, stay seated, leave your glass on the table and do not drink. Drinking to yourself is the equivalent of applauding yourself. Smile, look at the speaker and say thank you once everyone has drunk. If you are the guest of honour, you may stand afterwards and propose a toast in return to your host.

Write your toast this week, rehearse it on your feet and keep it to one story. Then sit down while the room is still smiling.