Here's the shape that works almost every time:
1. An opening line that grounds the room.
2. Who they are to you — one or two specific truths.
3. A story or a moment — the proof.
4. The promises — three to five, concrete.
5. A closing line — short, warm, final.
That's it. If each section is two or three sentences, you land right around 90 seconds spoken. The structure is doing the work so you don't have to hold everything in your head.
The opening line just needs to signal "I'm talking to you now." Something like "I've been trying to write this for four months, and here's what I finally landed on" is better than a quote from a poet neither of you has read.
The closing line should be short enough to say when your voice is shaking. Seven words or fewer is a good target. Say it out loud before you commit to it.