Advice on Speech Writing
What do you want to say?
Decide on whether you want to talk about the person, their accomplishments, their effect on people and friends etc.
Collect the facts about his life, where he was born, his family, his work.
You can use specific moments in there life that you remember to give you a starting point ... " I first met Pete in 1973 ... "
Think about what was important to the person and use this as inspiration.
How are you going to convey the speech?
A speech can be solemn or lighthearted it depends on the person you are talking about and also yourself. Think why you may have been asked to give the speech, is it because people would know you could show the deceased in a light that everyone would remember?
Once you've decided on how to convey the eulogy it will help you collect the relevant stories of the person and their life.
Write in segments
This will help you to remember what you have written but it will also help you to cut bits out if someone has already mentioned them before you.
Practice!
This is much more difficult that it may seem because of who you are talking about and why you are writing the speech.
Possibly the best advice is just give it a read through and say it out loud to yourself and then put it to one side.
NO ONE WILL BE JUDGING YOU ON YOUR SPEECH.
It can useful to give a copy of your speech to the person holding the service incase you find it to difficult to continue.
Most people at the funeral will be grateful to just hear kind words spoken about the person they loved, they probably will struggle to take in everything your saying because of the emotional state they are in themselves.
Try and stay calm and remember that if you talk from the heart it will all be ok.
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Alan Feeney, 11 Bodiam Close, Berkeley Beverborne, Worcester, Worcestershire WR4 0EL
T: 01905 453 356 M: 07949 382 469 E: alanfeeneytoastmaster@fsmail.net
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