Best Man Speeches || Best Man Speech Etiquette || Best Man Checklist || Best of the Best Man Speeches || Customs of The World  || Samples Speeches ||   How to write a free best man speech  ||  Free best man tips speech  || Toast or Speech  || Examples of  Best Man Speech ||Favorite Links What’s The Difference Between a Toast And a Speech, Anyway?   Good question.  Length, mostly. The Collins English dictionary defines toast as: “A tribute or proposal of health, success, etc., given to a person or thing by a company of people and marked by raising glasses and drinking together.” The origins of toasting have been lost to the mists of time.  Two versions predominate today, but no one today really knows how it all started. One version has the Romans originating it.  It appears the Romans liked to toast their bread over open fires (well, that’s pretty much all they had back then!)  But when the bread got too hard to chew, the Romans would drop it into a wine keg, or the bottom of a tankard, to soften it up.  The ‘toast” concept was eventually expanded to include the wine or ale in which the bread had been soaked, and the person in whose honor the drink was downed. Another version stems from the Middle Ages, when it was common to resolve social problems (like unfaithful wives or political opponents) by killing one’s enemies by slipping a lethal dose of poison into their wine.  It didn’t take long for guests to figure this out, and thereafter hosts seeking to prove they had honorable intentions toward their guests would pour a glass from a common pitcher and sip the wine first, then offer a “toast” to the health and happiness of the guests.  Only then would the guests feel comfortable enough to drink the wine. Anyway, today most toasts are usually about 2-3 lines, and last about 30 seconds or so. A speech, on the other hand is just that: a speech.  It usually lasts anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how long-winded you want to get.  It should be about the Bride and Groom, not the family, not the trials and tribulations, but as a celebration of their day! "The Best Of The Best Man Speeches" e-Book Buy it Now!