It hasn’t gone away you know. The debate on death row rumbles on. Now there are calls in England for re-introducing the death penalty there. They follow in the wake of a particularly gruesome murder. Yet the question remains what would re-introducing the death penalty actually achieve?
For some people, of course, it would be a kind of revenge, especially if a loved one of theirs had been harmed or killed. On the other hand they might remember the words of Benjamin Franklin who said, ‘Tis more noble to forgive, and more manly to despise, than to revenge an Injury.”
Certainly murderers have to be punished. Certainly society has to be kept safe from them. What sort of society, though, hangs, shoots and electrocutes prisoners? It must surely be one that has never heard of rehabilitation or of Christian forgiveness.
Keeping people on death row for years is inhumane. The fact that they have committed dreadful crimes doesn’t take away from the fact that a prison system that keeps them there awaiting a grisly death is a crime in itself. There can be no doubt too but that some of them are innocent and many of them have mental problems which deserve medical treatment. After all what kind of normal person commits crimes of this sort?
Prison is not the only punishment for crime. Murderers and rapists who are a threat to others certainly need to be locked up but perhaps in a different environment than prison. Certainly we should be doing our best to ensure that they develop the work ethic and that they have the opportunity to learn how to become productive. Uninhabited islands might be used where farming methods could be taught. They might be put to doing some work in undeveloped countries. The death penalty certainly kills some of those who are dangers to society but others quickly take their place because society hasn’t tackled the social problems they breed the law of the jungle. Nor has it given them the message that they can become better people. Every time we execute a prisoner we are killing our own humanity.

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In some countries both parents escort their daughter up the aisle to her wedding. After all they have both reared her. It should be equally acceptable then for the mother of the bride to give a wedding speech. The father of the bride is, of course, the one who usually toasts the happy couple but whether or not the father is speaking there is no reason why the bride’s mother should not speak too.
Sometimes, of course, she may be the widowed mother of the bride. If so when she is speaking she will usually be saying what her husband would have said on the occasion. Mother of the bride speeches should express what the daughter in question means to her mother. They should tell a little about her growing years and her lifestyle. They obviously include a welcome to the new groom and his family into the bride’s clan and include a suitable welcome to the guests. Depending or not on whether there is anyone else doing so they should end with a toast to the couple. If, however, the bride’s father or a relative is giving the toast she might end her speech with a blessing instead.
Weddings are emotional occasions and probably more so for the mother of the bride than anyone else. She won’t want to break down when giving her speech so it is better to make it short and somewhat light-hearted in tone. If she is a widow she may want to mention the bride’s father and how he would have been so proud of his beautiful daughter. This sentence should be short and sincere. One thing is certain, women being what they are, will have more background information on their daughters for the speech than any mere male.

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Thanksgiving Day is celebrated more widely than Christmas and that’s understandable. Whether or not we believe in Christianity we all know when we have reasons to be thankful. That is not to say, of course, that we always remember to be thankful. In our busy lives we often groan and moan about what we haven’t got. We aspire to bigger houses and better cars. We want more money. If the recession has taught us anything it may have taught us that these things aren’t important anymore.  What are important are all the things we celebrate at Thanksgiving. On that day we acknowledge the importance of family life, of food on the table and of the freedom to celebrate.
On that day it would do us no harm to spare a thought or a prayer for those less fortunate in our world. The group Amnesty tells us about prisoners of conscience throughout the world. The newspapers tell us about the starving in Africa, about drought and flooding. Each one of us knows someone who is ill or in hospital. So when we are gathered around that family table let’s stop and think how lucky we are and each, in our own way, express thanks for the gifts we’ve been given…

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Has it ever occurred to you that giving a toast is like giving a compliment? Whether it’s a wedding toast or a birthday toast or a toast to Christmas it usually comes as the ending to a short speech. Quite often that speech is very personal and, of course, that’s how it should be. After all if you have been asked to toast the couple or the birthday boy it must be assumed that you know them well.
So your speech can contain little anecdotes about their past. You can speak about their kindness or generosity or how much fun they are. Quite often speakers do all this very well but then end with a traditional, but perhaps boring toast, such as simply saying, “The Bride and groom!”
So choose or write a personal toast. Search through books of toasts or the internet for ones that would relate to the couple or to that birthday boy. Find a piece of poetry that is appropriate to the person or people you are toasting.  It’s all about making them feel special.  It’s about choosing words that have a meaning for them. It’s about giving a memory. Whatever about that proverbial ship don’t spoil a speech for a ha’pworth of tar.

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Just now many people are searching for Christmas gifts for loved ones. Sometimes it’s very easy to choose but sometimes it’s more difficult. Your children will write their letters to Santa but what do you buy for that someone who has everything?
One thing that we all have in common is our personal genealogy. So why not start them on a fascinating hobby by giving them a book into which they could put details of their own family history? You might even give them a gift token for some genealogical research. Even better you could start off the research yourself and give them what you have got with the challenge to go further back in through the generations. It could give their life a whole new meaning as they found out who the goodies and baddies were in the family because, let’s be honest, all families have a mixture of both. Your Christmas message could be simple. Never forget your roots - you’re a branch on the family tree.

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The party season is almost upon us now and with it come questions of speech etiquette. How do you give a toast to the guests for instance? What would you say when giving a vote of thanks to a guest speaker?  Just what should you say when you are giving a toast to the ladies?
You have probably been asked to speak because you are a member of a club or association. You know all about the function, why it is being held and who the guests are. So you can personalise your toast to the guests by mentioning the company’s success during the year or the fact that your club won the championship this season. If you are giving that vote of thanks to the guest speaker you will, of course, know his or her credentials for speaking. The guest speaker will be delighted if you can mention just why he is noteworthy, whether, for instance, he has books written on a certain subject… He may be famous as a lecturer. He may have spoken about his travels and you should say how he has brought places alive for you. These are situations where you have to be gracious rather than garrulous. These speeches call for a personal touch. They should be light-hearted yet sincere. When toasting the ladies you have to be very careful not to be condescending. Instead you should mention their charm and wit and abilities.
As with every other speech it’s all about doing your homework. So know your facts and express your appreciation of the guests for coming, the speaker for speaking and the ladies simply for being lovely.

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So they have discovered water on the moon. The scientists may be thrilled about that but our own water is a bigger problem right now. We have droughts in some countries and floods in others and marine pollution as well. Let’s get our own world in order before we bother about outer space. After all the fact that there is water on the moon doesn’t help the people whose crops are failing because of lack of it and it doesn’t do residents whose homes are flooded any good to know that there is also water on the moon. Added to that we have countries where water is simply being wasted because the water pipes are so old they leak. We have vanishing fish stocks because of water pollution and naturally it affects the tourist industry in such countries too. So let’s forget about the moon for the moment and do something about this planet and what we are doing to it. The old saying, “Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink” has a horribly threatening sound. That is, of course, if we are not all drowned!

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They are working on a new way to help people quit smoking. They hope within a few years to provide a vaccination against this nasty habit. After all let’s be honest about it smokers stink. Sitting beside smokers in a bus or a train is an endurance test for non-smokers and one they should not have to endure. It won’t seemingly be just one injection but a series of five. If and when it comes on the market it will surely be a best seller. After all cigarettes are a drug. They are hard to give up no matter how much the smoker may want to do so. They will certainly get encouragement from their loved ones to have these injections because second hand smoke affects others dangerously too. Smoking is a major cause of lung cancer and other illnesses and cost countries millions in lost earnings. Smokers also cost local authorities millions in cleaning up their mess. So Governments everywhere should give every support to these tests. Let’s help smokers to help themselves.

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Are you afraid of giving a speech? Are you worried that you will go to pieces in front of your audience? One of the best ways to avoid this is to have a plant in the audience. Choose someone who feels sympathetic towards you. It may be a family member or it may be a friend. Be careful though, whom you choose. A friend might. For instance, decide to tease you and make faces or signs at you that will distract you when you are speaking. When you have chosen someone understanding agree a few signals with them… If you are speaking too quietly, for instance, you might ask them to point down. If you are too near the mike you might suggest that they show you two fingers closed together to indicate that. They could point upwards if you need to speak louder. Ask that friend to hear you practise your speech. There may be a word that you fall over every time you use it. If so, that friend will point this out and maybe suggest a different way of saying things. He or she will tell you if you are going too fast or too slowly. Choose someone who understands the importance of the speech to you. When the big day comes you will have the confidence of knowing that your content doesn’t include any pitfalls and that you won’t speak too loudly, too quietly or breathe too heavily into the mike. When you have finished your speech that friend will happily give you the thumbs up!

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What topics make for the most interesting speeches? For specific audiences of course you may have to give specific speeches. A motivational sales speech will go down well with sales staff. For a mixed audience though you can’t beat health subjects.
All of us either have health problems ourselves or know of people with them. Diabetes is a growing problem these days as is obesity so speeches on either of those topics is certainly topical. We are always being warned about skin cancer and summers with a high pollen count also brings untold misery to millions with hay fever. If you give a speech on these subjects you will be speaking about a subject people understand. They may not know much about these illnesses but you can enlighten them in your speech. That is not to say that what you say should be mournful, you can make it upbeat and interesting. Above all you can make people think. You can help them to understand how different lifestyles affect our health. Lots of people get sick through no fault of their own but lots more get sick because they eat or drink or stay out in the sun too much. For such people a good speech topic would be health it’s in your own hands.

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