What should go in a eulogy

For more on how to do this, visit our Writing Eulogies: The H. Method page. As you are preparing the eulogy, keep in mind that you are dealing with your own grief so that the process may become emotional. If you need to, take a break to let yourself work through your feelings. Now comes the most important part—delivering it. This is also the part that may weigh most heavily on your mind. Chances are you are not a polished public speaker; you are also working to manage your grief over the loss of a loved one.

The death of a loved one is a stressful and emotional time. Dealing with the loss under normal circumstances is difficult enough. However, adding the extra task of giving the eulogy is particularly challenging.

Your audience will not be shocked if you get emotional. In fact, they will probably expect it. People love to connect through storytelling. Your shared recollections are likely to stimulate fond and welcome memories in the hearts and minds of your audience. By being a storyteller, you are helping others through their grief journey.

Consult with family and friends throughout the process of preparing the eulogy. Gather information and stories from relatives, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Use their ideas to help structure your thoughts. Ask your loved ones to read through the draft of your speech. Invite them to identify any errors, clarify the flow of the content and offer suggestions on further material to include. Read your funeral speech aloud to a close friend or family member.

You can do this in person, over the phone or through Skype. Sharing this task with others will help you feel less isolated and may serve to reduce any nervous feelings you have about delivering the eulogy.

In presenting the eulogy, your role is not to judge or measure the life of the deceased. A remembrance speech is not the platform through which to refer to inappropriate memories or to tell tales.

Leave out any mentions of questionable behaviour or long-held grudges. There is certainly a place for humour and warmth but the content of a remembrance speech should always remain respectful. The task of summarising the events of a whole life into one single speech is almost impossible. You cannot include everything; some stories and events will be shared in less formal moments with friends and family. He was never embarrassed about working hard, even if the results were failures.

Continue Reading. He has gone, and all over India there is a feeling of having been left desolate and forlorn. All of us sense that feeling, and I do not know when we shall be able to get rid of it.

And yet together with that feeling there is also a feeling of proud thankfulness that it has been given to us of this generation to be associated with this mighty person. In ages to come, centuries and maybe millennia after us, people will think of this generation when this man of God trod on earth, and will think of us who, however small, could also follow his path and tread the holy ground where his feet had been. He rose to prominence in the civil rights movement of the s, led the famous March on Washington in , and the March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in A brilliant orator and writer, whose insistence upon nonviolence in the Gandhian tradition accounted for the success of the movement, Dr.

King was assassinated on April 4, , in Memphis, Tennessee, by a white man. What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of injustice towards those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.

Kennedy, Kara, Edward, Patrick, Curran, Caroline, members of the Kennedy family, distinguished guests, and fellow citizens:. Today we say goodbye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy. The world will long remember their son Edward as the heir to a weighty legacy; a champion for those who had none; the soul of the Democratic Party; and the lion of the U. Senate — a man whose name graces nearly one thousand laws, and who penned more than three hundred himself.

But those of us who loved him, and ache with his passing, know Ted Kennedy by the other titles he held: Father. Ted Kennedy has gone home now, guided by his faith and by the light of those he has loved and lost. At last he is with them once more, leaving those of us who grieve his passing with the memories he gave, the good he did, the dream he kept alive, and a single, enduring image — the image of a man on a boat; white mane tousled; smiling broadly as he sails into the wind, ready for what storms may come, carrying on toward some new and wondrous place just beyond the horizon.

May God Bless Ted Kennedy, and may he rest in eternal peace. Live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about his religion.

Respect others in their views and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.

Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, or even a stranger, if in a lonely place.

Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength.

Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and robs the spirit of its vision. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way.

Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home. It is the secret of the world that all things subsist and do not die, but only retire a little from sight and afterwards return again. Nothing is dead; men feign themselves dead, and endure mock funerals and mournful obituaries, and there they stand looking out of the window, sound and well, in some new strange disguise. Jesus is not dead; he is very well alive; nor John, nor Paul, nor Mahomet, nor Aristotle; at times we believe we have seen them all, and could easily tell the names under which they go.

For additional quotes, funeral poems and readings, visit the write-out-loud website. Eulogy Overview Writing and giving a eulogy is a way of saying farewell to someone who has died that, in a sense, brings the person to life in the minds of the audience. Eulogy Definition A speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, especially a tribute to someone who has just died.

Thinking about your Audience and the Person Start by thinking of the people you are addressing, as well as the person you are describing: the eulogy is about the person, but for the audience.

Key thoughts about your audience Who are they — family and close friends only or others too? Professional Development Courses Fast-track your career with award-winning courses and realistic practice. Explore Courses.

Use these points to help build memories and stories. You could start by looking around the house and pulling out old photo albums, going through old letters or emails, and any other memorabilia. Talking to close relatives, friends, and acquaintances is also an excellent way to remember things. Here are some prompts to help you get started: Who am I speaking to? How would the person like to be remembered? What made them special? Favourite pastimes and interests, likes and dislikes?

When were they happiest? Who was really close to them? What did I really like about them? What did other people really like about them? What are the highlights of their life story? If I could say only three things about them, what would they be? Who can help me check my facts?

Do I want someone else to give the eulogy on my behalf on the day? Is anyone else planning to speak about the person at the funeral? Do we need to avoid saying the same thing twice? Decide on the tone How serious or light-hearted do you want the eulogy to be?