When someone you love has died, finding the words for a eulogy can feel impossible. You may be staring at a blank page, worried about letting people down and unsure where to start. The Essential Guide to Writing a Eulogy sits quietly beside you in that moment and leads you through a calm, step by step process.
What this guide helps you do
Rather than trying to capture every year and every achievement, this guide shows you how to focus on what truly matters. You learn how to choose a handful of stories and details that show who your person was, how they showed up for others and what will be missed most.
- Understand what a eulogy is, what it is not and what people in the room most need to hear.
- Gather memories using gentle prompts, questions and short exercises you can do alone or with family.
- Choose a simple structure that suits the time you have and the type of service.
- Write in everyday language so your words sound natural and genuine when you read them aloud.
Tools, templates and real examples
Grief can make even clear thinkers feel foggy. The guide gives you practical tools so you never have to build the eulogy from scratch. There are worksheets to capture memories, fill in style outlines that turn notes into a first draft and checklists to make sure you have included the essentials without overloading yourself.
You also see example eulogies for different relationships and situations, with short explanations of why they work. You can borrow structure and phrasing while still keeping your own voice and your own stories at the centre.
Support for speaking on the day
This guide also looks after you as a speaker. It offers calm advice on practising out loud, pacing yourself and working with microphones or lecterns. You will find simple breathing and grounding ideas for managing nerves, plus reassurance that it is alright to become emotional and pause when you need to.
- Day before and day of checklists so you know what to print and bring.
- Tips for marking pauses and page breaks in your notes.
- Backup plans if you prefer someone to read for you or finish on your behalf.
Who this guide is for
The Essential Guide to Writing a Eulogy is for family members, friends and colleagues who want to honour a life with sincerity, not perfection. Whether you are used to public speaking or have never done anything like this before, it offers structure, gentle prompts and steady reassurance so you do not have to work it all out alone.