Free Eulogy Tips and Information – An Overview of All You Need to Know to Do a Job You’ll be Proud Of

In my role as a professional Funeral Presider (the role traditionally filled by the priest) I have written, advised on and delivered over 100 eulogies. And I have noticed that there are certain steps which, when you follow them, take away much of the stress and worry, and make writing and delivering a great eulogy relatively straightforward. So here they are for you, for free…

Step 1 – Take Some Quiet Time

It’s very useful, amidst all the emotion and activity, to take some time for yourself to connect with your memories of the person who has died. You can remind yourself why you are giving the eulogy, and remember that you are doing a service to all the other people who will be there – you will be helping them to remember the person they knew and loved.

Step 2 – Choose the Type of Eulogy

You can give a “potted life story” type eulogy, or you can simply relate your own personal thoughts and memories. Both types can be very personal and fitting and will work equally well – you are free to simply choose which point of view you want to take.

It’s possible for a funeral to both types of eulogy, e.g. a potted life story from one family member, plus one or more personal viewpoint eulogies from other family members and/or friends and/or colleagues.

Step 3 – Collect Your Information

If you’re giving a personal viewpoint you’ll probably do this on your own – just sit down and freely write your memories and feelings. If you are giving a potted life story you’ll probably want to ask others for their input so that you can reflect their views and experience in what you say. For example, when I wrote my grandfather’s eulogy I spoke to my mother, my two aunts and my uncle, plus my three cousins and my grandfather’s two sisters – this gave me a real variety of perspectives which I managed to include in the final eulogy, plus they told me facts and his life which I could never have known on my own.

Remember also that you can include funny stories and anecdotes – laughter and smiles are very good things to have at a funeral.

Step 4 – Put Things In Order

Every eulogy has a beginning, a middle and an end.

To start you could welcome people, thank them for coming and comment on the sadness of the occasion. For the ending you could sum up the person’s character, say how much they’ll be missed, thank those who may have helped in recent times, and if appropriate invite people to any gathering that is taking place after the service.

As for the middle, that’s where your information comes in, usually in the order it happened in real life. You may need to be selective if you want to keep your speech to around five minutes.

Step 5 – Practice

Once you’ve sketched out what you want to say, read it out loud a few times and make any adjustments you want to make. It doesn’t have to be perfect – that would be impossible. You can also spend some quiet time with your eyes closed imagining it all going really well.

Step 6 – Give the Eulogy

If you can find out in advance what the room will be like, whether there will be a microphone (there almost certainly will be), how many people are likely to be there, etc., then that will help you feel calm on the day. The more you know the more confident you will feel.

If you have written your speech out word-for-word print it double spaced because this makes it easier for you to keep your place, and take two copies just in case. You may also like to have a small bottle of water with you.

When you apply these simple steps, you will do a great job and deliver a eulogy that honours the person who has gone, and is also healing for all those who hear it.

You can get more guidance on all of these steps in my downloadable, to-the-point guide on How to Write and Deliver a Great Eulogy in 6 Simple Steps. It comes complete with many example eulogies, poems, quotations and public speaking tips. I also give you my personal, 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee, and you can see more about the guide here.

To buy the guide straight away, click here.