Seven Easy Steps to Writing a Eulogy
By Mary Hickey

Step One: Gather information. Jot down as many personal notes
about the deceased as possible. Look at photos. Flipping through
photo albums may remind you of important qualities and memories
of the person who died. Answer a few questions: What made your
loved one truly happy? What inspired you to write this eulogy? What
were your loved one’s passions? What will you remember most
about this person? Keep in mind that a eulogy is not a biography but
more 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.

Step Two: Begin to organize your content. Outline the eulogy in
these steps:


I. A beginning to establish your theme.

II. A middle section to build on your theme with personal stories,
information, quotes, comments, sayings, poems and other content.
This information should make up 90% of the eulogy.

III. A short conclusion to summarize your thoughts and restate your
theme.


Step Three: Work first on the middle section (Part II). Once you have
this part the beginning and summary will be easy. Develop the
outline by grouping similar themes from your notes from Step 1. For
example, you might want to gather all the achievements together.
Merge the comments about the deceased’s philosophy of life.

Step Four: Organize the conclusion (Part III). A conclusion reminds
the listeners of the theme and imprints the strong feeling you have
about the loss. The key is to conclude effectively and quickly. Here
is an example: “We will all miss Jackie’s sense of humor, her talent
for knowing what is really important in life and her famous chocolate
chip cookies” (a little humor doesn’t hurt as long as it’s not offensive
to anyone). “Her example lives as an inspiration for all of us to
follow.”

Step Five: Write the beginning of the eulogy (Part 1). This usually
starts with an attention getter. It will set the theme and can be in the
form of a short story, a poem, a saying, lyrics to a song. It will
introduce the goal and theme you used when you began the
process.

Step Six: Polish it up. 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. You want to talk to the audience as naturally as
possible.

Key tips:


Keep it short, 4-8 minutes long, 3-7 typed pages.
Type it out using 14 pt type so it’s easy to read.
Vary sentence length.
Number the pages.
Practice the eulogy aloud and time yourself.
Read it to friends and family and get their feedback. Edit where
necessary.
Keep the content in good taste and keep it positive.

Step Seven: Delivering the eulogy. While normally speakers do not
read word-for-word, because 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 wanted said. If making eye
contact with members of the audience will make you emotional,
either 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.
Everyone will understand. They are emotionally distraught also.

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. You can add it to your
memento chest and share it with others who may want a copy.

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

To find some poems to get you started visit http://nextgenmemorials.
com/memorialverses.html

Mary Hickey is an urn designer and thought leader in the funeral
industry. She is co-founder of Renaissance Urn Company, based in
San Francisco. For more information on how to plan a life
celebration visit http://www.nextgenmemorials.com Hickey can be
reached at info@nextgenmemorials.com .

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mary_Hickey



May I also suggest you visit Jan Shepardson's site on writing a
loving eulogy for a funeral.  After the loss of her mother, she has put
together some information that will help you to write a eulogy.   Just
click on the link to Jan's site,  below.

If you are confident about how to write a eulogy speech, you may
find our book of "Best Loved Poems for Funerals, Memorials and
Eulogies"  helpful.  It  contains over 50 eulogy poems, over 30
suggested hymns, suggested bible readings for a funeral and ideas
for an order of service.  It's on a special offer right now and
represents excellent value.  

May God bless you at this time,