Eulogy speeches need to paint a picture for the mind to remember. When you are asked to present a eulogy you generally know the deceased. However, you may not have known the deceased well as the deceased may have been a co-worker or member of a mutual organization instead of a close family member. However well you knew the deceased eulogy speeches still may not be easy to write because you will want to let your own emotional upheaval explode when in fact what you really need to do when giving eulogy speeches is help the listeners get to know the person better or just get to know them.

Tip 1) Write About The Deceased Not Your Own Feelings

One thing novice writers of eulogy speeches tend to do is to write and speak about how this death impacts the writer’s feelings. They may say ‘I am so sad this person died because his death makes it hard to keep living’ or something to that effect. No. What eulogy speeches need to do is give an upbeat tempo to the funeral and not take it into depression. So keep your own personal grief and sadness out of the eulogy and instead celebrate the life and times of the deceased life so the funeral becomes a cause for celebration and even brings smiles to the listeners’ faces.

Tip 2) Concentrate On His Fine Traits

Is the deceased a man who loved his church? Then write one of those eulogy speeches that includes his favorite scripture or tenet. If the person had some personal beliefs based on certain tenets such as strong belief and saw the church as a positive influence which protects attendees from the destructive excesses while bringing them joy, fulfillment and peace then give examples how through this belief he made the world around him a much better place. Incorporate into the eulogy speeches how his belief kept himself and his family grounded and safe from harm.

Tip 3) Expound On His Accomplishments

All men and woman have accomplished something in their lives. When writing eulogy speeches make sure you use some examples of what the person accomplished in their lives. Did they catch the biggest salmon on a special fishing trip on the Rogue River in Oregon? Then draw that picture with words into the eulogy speeches and invite the mourners into a sun filled world of white water, drift boats and the joy of reeling in that wonderful fish on that special day. Or tell an anecdote about the best T-ball game he watched, coached or refereed.

Tip 4) Delight With The Audience About Their Funny Points

Every family has had some days where everything just goes perfectly. When you are writing eulogy speeches for a special person that you have known well then you will know some of the perfect things that happened on that perfect day including something funny that happened also. Did the day start with leaving the food cooler sitting on the driveway? How did the family react when they discovered this? Including small details in eulogy speeches make the person seem more human, just don’t go into overload with them because a few good ones create big images in the listeners’ mind.

Tip 5) Share What YOU Want The Listeners To Know

As you are laying out eulogy speeches one of the things you want to do is share things that you want the other mourners to know. Make a format outline of the speech and include points that you feel will make the people listening to the eulogy speeches understand the person better. Make them want to know more about the person by opening that person’s life up for them. Create a vivid picture then fill it in with brush strokes about wonderful things about the person.

Tip 6) Stick To The Key Points

When actually giving the eulogy speeches you can control some of your emotions by sticking to the key points that you laid out. Don’t memorize the entire speech but do memorize the key points then let the actual stories flow from your mouth in glorious words that will make the listeners understand why they are going to miss this person in their lives. A good eulogy well delivered will be remembered for a long time as will the picture you made when speaking about the person’s life.

Tip 7) Paint A Picture Of The Deceased

Create a whole image of the person. This may include:

  • Stories of their childhood
  • Tall tails they may have told about that fish they landed
  • Some highlights in their life
  • A short summary of their children’s life with them

Tip 8) When Actually Giving The Eulogy – Don’t Ramble

One of the first things you should do is introduce yourself so people know why you are giving eulogy speeches at this funeral. Then get into the meat of the eulogy in about 15 minutes. Don’t go off course and begin to ramble on and on.

Tip 9) Emotion Is Alright but Don’t Inject So Much It Takes Over

Some tips to keep the emotion under control when giving eulogy speeches are:

  • Speak slowly
  • Take deep breaths
  • Laugh when telling a funny story to relieve the emotions fast

Tip 10) Practice, Practice, Practice and Practice More

One of the fears of any speech giver is that they will blow it. Because you are giving a form of eulogy speeches in general you probably are still in a state of raw grief so you need some way to calm the nerves and keep an overwhelming emotion out of the actual speech process so you can in fact completely give that speech without interruption of great emotional upheaval. One way to give eulogy speeches while showing an acceptable and expected amount of emotion is to practice, practice and practice until you have the speech memorized. However just memorize the key points as you will probably remember in thorough detail any life stories you included in any of those eulogy speeches.