To begin your funeral service eulogy follow the steps listed below.

Collect Information

Note down as many personal notes about the person you are writing the eulogy for as possible. Search through photo albums to remind you of important qualities and memories of the person who passed away.

Keep in mind that a eulogy is your personal thoughts and remembrances from your point of view. You may want to ask co-workers, friends and others for their stories and memories. You should see some repetition in your notes and this will lead to the main theme.

Prepare

Outline the funeral service eulogy in these steps: 

• A beginning to establish your theme
• A middle section to build on your theme with personal stories, information, quotes, comments, sayings, poems and other content
• A short ending to summarise your thoughts and restate your theme

Once you have this part the beginning and ending will be easy.

Develop the outline by grouping similar themes from your notes from Step 1, 'Collect Information' ie, group all the achievements together then merge the comments about the persons philosophy of life.

The Ending

A conclusion reminds the audience of the theme and imprints the strong feeling you have about the loss.

The key is to conclude effectively and quickly.

The Beginning

This will set the theme and can be in the form of a short story, a poem, a saying, lyrics even a song. It will introduce the goal and theme you used when you began the process.

Practice

Your best bet is to walk away from it for a few hours or overnight if possible.

• Work on it so it sounds like a conversation. Talk to the audience as naturally as possible
• Keep it short, 4-8 minutes long, 3-7 typed pages  
• Practice the eulogy aloud and time yourself
• Read it to friends and family and get their feedback
• Keep the content in good taste and keep it positive

Deliver

You are more than likely going to be emotional, don’t be afraid to read word for word. This way you won’t leave out any key points you or others want to be read.

• Try and keep your eyes on the page or look just over the top of the audience to the back of the room
• Feel free to pause, take a deep breath and drink some water
• Speak as naturally as you can just as if you were telling someone about your loved one
• Speak up. It’s very important that you speak clearly and loudly so that everyone can hear you
• Keep the written eulogy as a memento
• Add it to your memento chest and share it with others who may want a copy

By following these steps, writing and delivering a funeral service eulogy will become less stressful and more of a healing process.

For more information about writing a funeral service eulogy, please contact us on 1800 260 444.