Eulogy Template Fill in the Blank With Real Examples

A fill-in-the-blank eulogy template is an eight-slot script you complete with your own names, memories and closing words. Below is that template twice, once with the slots empty and once with every slot filled in, followed by four complete eulogies built from it. Fill the slots in order, read the whole thing aloud, and cut whatever you stumble over.

If you searched for a fill-in-the-blank template, you probably do not want to read an article. You want the blanks. Most of the pages that rank for this ask you to download a PDF, hand over an email address, or buy a printable, and when you finally open the file it is a page of brackets with no idea what belongs in them.

So the template is on this page, free, with the brackets shown filled in by real people as well as empty. You can work straight down it. Nobody has to know you used it.

It is built for three to five minutes of speaking, which is the normal length. Filling it in takes about forty minutes if you have your memories straight.

The eulogy template, blank by blank

Here is the whole template first, so you can copy it somewhere and work down it.

Good [morning / afternoon]. My name is [your name], and [their name] was my [relationship].

Thank you all for being here. [One line about the people in the room.]

[One sentence on who they were. Not a list. One sentence.]

[The first memory. A specific day, a specific place, what was said.]

[The second memory. Something small and repeated rather than big and rare.]

[What they taught you, or what you carry because of them.]

[One or two sentences spoken directly to them, using their name.]

Thank you all for coming. [What happens next, or one closing line.]

Eight slots. The rest of this section takes them one at a time and shows how other people have filled each one, so you can see the shape of a good answer before you write yours. If you want the reasoning behind why these eight and in this order, the five parts of a eulogy and what goes in each covers it in more detail.

Slot 1. The greeting and your name

Say good morning, say your name, and say how you are related to the person who died. That is the whole job of the first line, and getting it over with in nine words stops you from drifting.

Good [morning / afternoon]. My name is [your name], and [their name] was my [relationship].

Three ways people fill it:

"Good morning. My name is Claire, and Anne was my mother."

"Good afternoon. For those who do not know me, I am Tom, Bill's eldest grandson."

"Hello. I am Priya. Raj was my brother, and I am one of four of us speaking today."

Say your name even if you think everyone knows it. Half the room will not, and the half who do will not mind.

Slot 2. One line about the people in the room

This slot acknowledges the room without making a speech out of it. One sentence, and ideally one that sounds like the person who died rather than like a greetings card.

Thank you all for being here. [One line about the people in the room.]

Three ways people fill it:

"Some of you drove a long way, and she would have wanted to know exactly how long it took and whether you hit traffic."

"He would be embarrassed by this turnout, which is exactly why he deserves it."

"I know how many of you took a day off work to be here. She counted things like that."

If nothing comes, leave it at "Thank you all for being here" and move on. An empty slot is better than a filled one you do not mean.

Slot 3. Who they were, in one sentence

Write one sentence that would let a stranger recognise them. Resist the list. A list of five adjectives tells the room nothing, and one concrete sentence tells them everything.

[One sentence on who they were. Not a list. One sentence.]

Three ways people fill it:

"My mother was a practical woman who thought love was something you did rather than something you said."

"He was born in this town, he worked forty-two years at the yard down the road, and he never saw a reason to go anywhere else."

"Dad was the only person I have met who could spend an hour on a job that took ten minutes and call it a good afternoon."

A useful test: could this sentence be said about someone else in the room? If yes, it is too general. Go more specific.

Slot 4. The first memory

Pick one day you can still see. Give the room the place, the words that were said, and what you did next, and skip everything that happened either side of it.

[The first memory. A specific day, a specific place, what was said.]

Four ways people fill it, each cut down to its opening lines:

"When I was nine I broke my arm falling off a wall I had been told twice not to climb. In the car to the hospital she did not say one word about the wall."

"The first time I brought my wife home, he had cleaned the whole house and then stood in the doorway pretending he had not."

"In 1998 our car died on the way to Blackpool and we sat on the verge for four hours waiting for the recovery truck. She bought crisps from a garage and called it a picnic, and I have never had a better day out."

"I was twenty-three and I rang her at two in the morning from a phone box in Glasgow with no money and no plan. She did not ask a single question until I was on the train home."

Three to five sentences is the right size here. If it needs more, it is probably two memories and you should give the second one to slot 5.

Slot 5. The second memory, smaller than the first

Make this one a habit rather than an event. The thing they did every Sunday, the phrase they always used, the chair they always sat in. Repeated small things are what people miss, and the room will recognise them instantly.

[The second memory. Something small and repeated rather than big and rare.]

Three ways people fill it:

"She did the crossword at the kitchen table every evening with a cup of tea going cold beside her."

"He had a shed with a radio, a kettle, one chair, and about four hundred jars of screws, all labelled in handwriting only he could read."

"Whatever time I rang, he picked up and said, 'Right, tell me.'"

This is the slot people underrate and then find is the one that gets the laugh and the nod at the same time.

Slot 6. What they left you with

Say what you do differently because of them. This is the slot that keeps a eulogy from being only a description, and it works better as a plain statement than as a lesson.

[What they taught you, or what you carry because of them.]

Three ways people fill it:

"My mother taught me that you can be kind without being soft."

"What he taught me is that showing up is most of it. You do not have to find the right words if you are standing there."

"I check on people now. I did not before I watched her do it for twenty years."

One sentence is plenty. Two at most. Do not tell the room what to take from it.

Slot 7. The line you say to them

Turn and speak to the person who died, by name, for one or two sentences. It is the moment the room is waiting for, and it is also the moment most likely to catch you, so keep it short and write it out word for word.

[One or two sentences spoken directly to them, using their name.]

Three ways people fill it:

"Mum, you were the least sentimental person I have ever known, so I will keep this short. Thank you for the crossword."

"Grandad, I have the jars. They are in my garage and they are still labelled and I still cannot read them. I will work it out."

"Raj, I am going to keep ringing you for a while. I know."

Write this slot last, after everything else is down. It is easier to find once the rest exists.

Slot 8. The thank you and what happens next

Close by thanking the room and handing them something practical, which gives everyone, including you, somewhere to put the next thirty seconds.

Thank you all for coming. [What happens next, or one closing line.]

Three ways people fill it:

"Thank you all for coming. There are sandwiches in the hall afterwards, and she would want you to take some home."

"Thank you for being here. My sister is going to read a poem now, and then we would love you to come back to the house."

"Thank you. That is all I have."

"That is all I have" is a complete and dignified ending. Plenty of good eulogies end exactly there.

The template filled in: four complete eulogies

These four are the template above with every slot completed, at four different lengths. Change the names, swap in your own memories at slots 4 and 5, and you have a finished speech. Read them aloud rather than silently, because that is how you will find out what fits your mouth.

1. A full-length eulogy for a mother, about four minutes

Good morning. My name is Claire, and Anne was my mother.

Thank you all for being here. Some of you drove a long way, and she would have wanted to know exactly how long it took you and whether you hit traffic.

My mother was a practical woman who thought love was something you did rather than something you said. She was a school nurse for thirty-one years. She raised three of us on one income and a great deal of determination.

Here is what I keep coming back to. When I was nine I broke my arm falling off a wall I had been told twice not to climb. In the car to the hospital she did not say one word about the wall. She held my good hand and told me about the time she broke her own arm at eleven, and how the plaster itched so badly she pushed a knitting needle down it. By the time we arrived I had stopped crying. She waited until the cast was on and we were back in the car park. Then she said, "The wall, Claire." That was all she needed to say.

The other thing I remember is the kitchen table. She did the crossword there every evening with a cup of tea going cold beside her. If you sat down opposite her she would read you a clue, and whether or not you knew the answer you would end up telling her about your week. I think that was the point of the crossword. Forty years later I still ring my brother on Sunday nights, and I know where he got that from.

My mother taught me that you can be kind without being soft. She never let any of us feel sorry for ourselves for long. She also never once made me feel like a burden, and I only understood how much work that took when I had children of my own.

She was ill for the last two years and she was stubborn about it, which surprised nobody. She kept doing the crossword. In the last week she could not hold the pen, so my sister read out the clues and wrote in the answers, and they finished the Saturday one together on the Thursday before she died.

Mum, you were the least sentimental person I have ever known, so I will keep this short. Thank you for the thirty-one years of other people's children, and for the three of your own. Thank you for the crossword. We are all going to be fine, eventually, and that is your doing.

Thank you all for coming. There are sandwiches in the hall afterwards, and she would want you to take some home.

2. A three-minute eulogy for a grandfather

Good afternoon. My name is Tom, and Bill was my grandfather.

He would be embarrassed by this turnout, which is exactly why he deserves it.

He was born in this town, he worked forty-two years at the yard down the road, and he is being buried about a mile from the house he grew up in. He never saw a reason to go anywhere else.

Grandad had a shed. Everyone here who knew him knows about the shed. It had a radio, a kettle, one chair, and about four hundred jars of screws, all labelled in handwriting only he could read. If you turned up with something broken he would take it off you without a word, put the kettle on, and have it working before the tea was cool. He mended my bike, two of my cars, a cot, and once a kettle, using the other kettle.

He did not talk much. What he did instead was turn up. He was at every school play I was in, including the one where I had no lines. He drove ninety minutes to my graduation and stood at the back because he did not want to make a fuss. When my dad was ill, Grandad came round every single morning for nine months and cut the grass, or moved the bins, or just sat.

What he taught me is that showing up is most of it. You do not have to find the right words if you are standing there.

Grandad, I have the jars. They are in my garage and they are still labelled and I still cannot read them. I will work it out.

Thank you all for coming. There is tea in the side room, and he would tell you to have two.

3. A very short eulogy, under two minutes

Good morning. My name is Priya, and Raj was my brother.

There are four of us speaking today, so I will keep this to one thing.

Raj answered the phone. That sounds small. It is not. Whatever time I rang, whatever I had done, whatever I needed, he picked up and he said, "Right, tell me." He did that for thirty years. He did it for our mother, and for his neighbours, and for a lot of people in this room.

He was forty-eight. That is not enough, and I am not going to pretend otherwise. We had plans for next summer and they were not interesting plans, they were a caravan in Wales, and I would give anything to be bored in that caravan with him.

Raj, I am going to keep ringing you for a while. I know.

Thank you all for being here. That is all I have.

That third one is 170 words and it works. A short eulogy delivered steadily beats a long one that falls apart in the middle, and when several people are speaking, short is the kinder choice for everyone.

4. A eulogy for a father, written by someone who hates speaking

Good afternoon. I am Michael. Dennis was my dad.

I am not good at this, so I have written it all down and I am going to read it.

My dad fixed roads for the council for twenty-nine years. He was quiet. He was the same person every single day, which I did not appreciate until I was old enough to know how rare that is.

When I was fifteen I got in trouble at school and he had to come in. I waited for the shouting the whole way home. He pulled into the drive and turned the engine off and said, "Right. Is there anything you want to tell me that they did not already tell me." I said no. He said, "Then we will not talk about it again." And we never did.

Every Sunday he washed the car whether it needed it or not. He had a radio on the wall of the garage and he listened to the football and he would not come in for his dinner until the bucket was emptied. If you wanted to talk to my dad about anything serious, Sunday afternoon by the car was when you did it. Both of my sisters will tell you the same.

What he gave me is a very boring thing and it is the best thing I have. He taught me to turn up on time and keep my word.

Dad, I washed my car on Sunday. It did not need it.

Thank you all for coming. That is all I have.

That one is 280 words, every sentence is short, and it uses all eight slots. If the thought of standing up frightens you, write it like this. Short sentences are easier to say when your voice goes.

How long should each slot be?

A four-minute eulogy is roughly 550 words, and the eight slots do not divide evenly. Slots 4 and 5, the two memories, should take about half the speech between them. Everything else is short.

• Slot 1, greeting and name: 10 to 20 words.
• Slot 2, the room: 15 to 30 words, or skip it.
• Slot 3, who they were: 25 to 50 words.
• Slots 4 and 5, the two memories: 250 to 320 words together.
• Slot 6, what they left you: 25 to 50 words.
• Slot 7, the line to them: 20 to 45 words.
• Slot 8, the close: 15 to 35 words.

Those numbers assume you are reading at about 130 words a minute, which is slower than you talk normally and roughly what grief does to your pace anyway. If you want the full arithmetic for other lengths, how long a eulogy should be and what that looks like has the word counts for two, five and ten minutes.

What to do when a blank will not fill

Fill the slots you can and leave the hard ones empty until the end, because the easy slots usually hand you the hard ones. People get stuck most often at slot 3 and slot 4, and each has a way round it.

If slot 3 will not come, do slots 4 and 5 first. Write the two memories, read them back, and ask what they have in common. That answer is slot 3, and it will be truer than anything you would have invented in the abstract.

If slot 4 will not come, stop trying to think of the best memory. There is no best. Instead answer one of these out loud: what did they always say, what did they teach you to do with your hands, where were you the last time you laughed with them, what did they do that embarrassed you at the time. Any answer is a usable slot 4.

If nothing at all will come, which happens, it is usually because you are tired rather than because you have nothing. Talk to someone who knew them and write down what they say. Secondhand memories are allowed. If you want a first draft to argue with instead of brackets, the eulogy writer asks you the slot 4 and slot 5 questions and puts a draft together from your answers, free to read before you decide anything.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good format for a eulogy?

A good format is greeting and your name, one sentence on who they were, two specific memories, what they left you with, a line spoken to them, and a thank you. That is the eight-slot template above. It runs three to five minutes, about 400 to 650 words, and it works at a funeral, a cremation or a celebration of life without changing.

What is the best opening line for a eulogy?

The best opening line is your name and your relationship: "My name is Claire, and Anne was my mother." It is the most useful thing you can say in the first five seconds, it steadies your voice on a sentence you cannot forget, and it tells the room who is speaking. Save anything clever for slot 4. If the first line is where you are stuck, how to start a eulogy without freezing has more openings.

What should you not put in a eulogy?

Leave out family arguments, money, the medical details of how they died, and any joke that only works if you dislike someone in the room. Also leave out apologies for your own speaking. Nobody is judging the delivery. The one thing people regret including is a long list of names, because you will miss someone and that is the part they remember.

What are common eulogy mistakes?

The four most common are reading a biography instead of telling two stories, writing for the whole room instead of for the people who loved them most, going past eight minutes, and not printing it out. Print it in 14 point with double spacing. Phones lock, hands shake, and paper does neither.

What are the 7 steps to writing a eulogy?

Collect memories, pick two, write them out in full, write one sentence on who they were, write the line you say to them, add the greeting and the thank you, then read it aloud and cut a tenth of it. Those seven steps are the template on this page in the order that is easiest to do rather than the order it gets spoken in.

One last thing

Fill in the eight slots, print it, and read it to one person before Saturday. You do not need to get this right. You need to get it said, and the template is there so you have something to read from while you do. If you would rather start from a draft than from brackets, the free preview will show you one.