Norton Field Guide for Speaking 8.7
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Norton Field Guide for Speaking 8.7
- 1. Chapter 8.7 Eulogies Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company
- 2. Introduction • Eulogies are tributes that praise the dead and celebrate their lives • Some eulogies are delivered years later to commemorate the anniversary of a death or to celebrate an important person’s historical achievements 2
- 3. Key Features • Eulogies focus on the deceased • Eulogies create a comforting, shared experience • Authenticity is more important than anything else 3
- 4. A Brief Guide to Giving a Eulogy • Consider the rhetorical situation • Organizing a eulogy 4
- 5. Consider the Rhetorical Situation • Occasion: To honor the life of a deceased person and share in a comforting social ceremony to express their grief • Speaker: Make sure you and the audience know why you are doing this eulogy for this person at this time and place • Audience: Consider the audience’s familiarity with the person and their expectations and frame of mind • Purpose: To comfort the grieving and to honor the deceased • Content: Use your relationship with the deceased person to guide your choice of content. • Delivery: Rehearse the eulogy, and try to keep your voice steady and loud enough to be heard by your audience, and use a manuscript to help you through the emotions 5
- 6. Organizing a Eulogy • Most eulogies use a simple organizational pattern • Two common methods for organizing a eulogy are chronological and story-based patterns • The most important thing to do at the beginning of a eulogy is to make sure people know who you are and why you are speaking • The most powerful endings connect the deceased person’s life to the lives of the people assembled to honor that person 6
- 7. Keep in Mind . . . (1 of 2) • Celebrate Small Truths: Focus on a characteristic that defines the person, and reflect on a few vivid details or examples of the same • Name the Deceased Person’s Virtues: Consider using the traditional language of the classical “virtues” to describe the deceased person’s qualities of character • Listen to the Eulogies That Precede Yours: Listen carefully to what is said before you and try to connect your eulogy to that without repeating the same stories • A Eulogy Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect: It’s okay to look, sound, and feel nervous, emotional, and grief-stricken • Use Language That Inspires and Console: Great eulogies are eloquent, expressive, and even poetic 7
- 8. Keep in Mind . . . (2 of 2) • Avoid Presumptions or Trite Statements: Don’t tell audience members you know what they are going through, that they should be happy the suffering is finally over, or that they will be fine in a few weeks • Consider Laughter: Some tasteful laughter can take the tension of sadness away • Talk to Who Matters: Make eye contact with the immediate family at various points in the eulogy, offering them comfort for their loss, and acknowledge the grief and shared memories of all others present • Prepare a Manuscript: Prepare your eulogy in manuscript form, but practice till your delivery seems extemporaneous 8
- 9. Notable Speaker: Oprah Winfrey, Part 1
- 10. Notable Speaker: Oprah Winfrey, Part 2
- 11. Credits This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for Chapter 8.7. For more resources, please visit The Norton Field Guide to Speaking: http://digital.wwnorton.com/nfgspeaking. Copyright © 2022 W. W. Norton & Company
Editor's Notes
- Search Terms To locate a video of this presentation online, enter the following key words into a search engine: Oprah Winfrey Rosa Parks eulogy. The video is approximately 4:10 in length. Photo credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
- Eulogy for Rosa Parks In October 2005, the activist Rosa Parks, whom the United States Congress in 1999 had honored as “the first lady of civil rights,” died at the age of ninety-two. A week after her death, a memorial service at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, was held in her honor. Tributes were paid to her legacy by politicians, activists, personal acquaintances, and celebrities, including one of the most respected individuals in American media, Oprah Winfrey. Here’s an excerpt from her moving eulogy, a video of which is widely available online:4 I grew up in the South, and Rosa Parks was a hero to me long before I recognized and understood the power and impact that her life embodied. I remember my father telling me about this colored woman who had refused to give up her seat. And in my child’s mind, I thought, “She must be really big.” I thought she must be at least a hundred feet tall. I imagined her being stalwart and strong and carrying a shield to hold back the white folks. And then I grew up and had the esteemed honor of meeting her. And wasn’t that a surprise. Here was this petite, almost delicate lady who was the personification of grace and goodness. And I thanked her then. I said, “Thank you,” for myself and for every colored girl, every colored boy, who didn’t have heroes who were celebrated. I thanked her then. And after our first meeting I realized that God uses good people to do great things. And I’m here today to say a final thank you, Sister Rosa, for being a great woman who used your life to serve, to serve us all. That day that you refused to give up your seat on the bus, you, Sister Rosa, changed the trajectory of my life and the lives of so many other people in the world. I would not be standing here today nor standing where I stand every day had she not chosen to sit down. I know that. I know that. I know that. I know that, and I honor that. Had she not chosen to say we shall not—we shall not be moved. Photo credit: Metropolitan AME Church