Most of us love our parents but how many of us express that love? Yet your father’s birthday, your step-mother’s birthday or your mother’s retirement are ideal days on which to say a few loving words. In fact any family occasion such as a family re-union gives you an opportunity to express your feelings for them. Weddings, of course, being the sentimental occasions they are, are the ideal time to thank them for all they have done for you. So whether you are the groom or the bride make it their big day too by expressing how much they mean to you. This also applies of course if you are the best man who is son of the groom or indeed the son of the bride. Finally, if you have not told them you love them before they die a thoughtful eulogy for mother or appreciative eulogy for father will be a fitting tribute to well loved parents.

Check out our sample speeches

Giving a eulogy can be heartbreaking but it can also be your last chance to pay public tribute to someone you love. If you are giving a eulogy for a father or a eulogy for a grandmother you will usually have had years of close contact to recall. Your eulogy then can reflect the life you shared and that closeness. You can speak of what the deceased meant to you and to others too. You can tell of their attributes and their influence on your life. The words of your last farewell should be moving and sincere. However if you think you will break down crying ask somebody else to say it on your behalf. Otherwise your friends and relatives will never hear what your loved one meant to you.

Check out our sample speeches

Eulogies inspire? I don’t think so.Ok, I admit it. It’s difficult to see how a eulogy could inspire. But if you think about it, that person’s life, years and years of it amounted to something. The reason you are here is because that person meant something to you. They brought something into your life. They gave you something precious, from genes to love, example and beyond. It is a gift you will always have. Your challenge is to turn it into something even better. It’s the reason you are here. How inspiring a thought is that?

Check out our sample speeches

ALL SPEECHES SHOULD ASPIRE TO INSPIRE

I think that every speech whether it is a eulogy, a wedding speech, a persuasive speech in fact pretty much any speech, should have one thing in common. That thing is inspiration. You must inspire the audience. You may look back at the past, and here you make reference to the ‘best of’.

You may look to the future. Here you can really inspire, because the future hasn’t (in most people’s opinions anyway) happened yet. In theory anything is possible. So, it is up to you to paint the most inspiring scenario of what is possible.

And what audience would fail to respond to that?

Check out our sample speeches

Eulogies

There is probably no more difficult speech to write or give than the eulogy. Eulogies work best when they are simple. They should focus on the life of the deceased and be, if possible a celebration of that life. It is worth collecting some anecdotes from those who knew the deceased well. A little gentle humour goes a long way and can be a great relief. Be sensitive to the deceased’s wishes and to the place of the service. Try and steer away from overblown sentiment and outpourings of grief. Aim for a genuine and heartfelt appreciation of the life of the deceased. None of us are perfect and now is not the time to settle scores. Ask yourself how you would wish to be remembered.

Check out our sample speeches