This document provides guidance on delivering eulogies. It begins by defining eulogies as tributes that praise the deceased and celebrate their lives. It then discusses key features of eulogies, including that they focus on the deceased and create a comforting experience for those in attendance. The document provides tips for giving a eulogy, such as considering the occasion, speaker, audience and purpose. It recommends organizing the eulogy chronologically or with stories, and providing an introduction and powerful ending. The document stresses celebrating the deceased's virtues and small truths, using inspiring language, and preparing a manuscript while allowing for emotion.

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