The Native Americans honored those who had passed with the greatest of honor and respect that a person can have bestowed upon them. They spoke of the great deeds and the great life of the person who had passed on. The complimented him for all that he had done, their eulogy was more a final and complete recognition of the person to the person - an honorable farewell as he traveled to live with the spirits. The ceremony gave all the rest of the members of the tribe a sense of healing and helped them to alleviate their grief.

That concept although done somewhat differently in our society is what we hope to achieve for our deceased when a eulogy speech is delivered. We wish to give them honor and respect for the life that they lived. We wish to give them a final farewell as they travel to their next place. We wish to help heal the saddened hearts of all those who are grieving over their loss. But we also wish to refocus the grieving to a celebration and a commemoration of the life that person lived.

There is probably no greater honor than the honor one is given when asked to deliver a eulogy speech. It shows that you are trusted to help heal as well as to commemorate and celebrate the life of the deceased. Treat the honor as reverently as you can. Take the time to learn what it will take to prepare a beautiful eulogy speech for your friend or loved one. Make sure that you can deliver a true celebration of their life and help to heal those who are left behind.

A good eulogy speech will be well written, well thought out, and well planned. You will want to make sure that you have ample time and a quiet place to formulate your thoughts and prepare yourself to create the eulogy speech.

You will want to make sure that you have collected all the pertinent information about the deceased. When and where he or she was born, where they grew up, moved to, and went to school, what college they graduated from and what their career was in. who they married and who they were survived by. All these points (if you are the main eulogy speaker) need to be in the speech.

Then you want to speak to the quality of the individual and their life. Talk about their character and their goals and the things they accomplished.

Share with your audience the things that made your relationship with the deceased special.

Talk about the times the deceased went out of their way to do something that showed truly what kind of a person they were.

Speak from the heart. Connect and contact your audience through real things that honestly reflect who the deceased was and what he or she was all about. As you speak you will begin to see that people are healing, they are remembering the one who has passed as they lived again, not as they died. With your eulogy speech, help them to make that memory grow and become stronger.

Margaret Marquisi is a retired writer and fulltime grandmother. To learn more about eulogy speeches or eulogy speech, visit her website.