Remembering stories at funeral ceremonies

During the course of a funeral ceremony, the speaker should resort to a number of resources to enliven the gathering and promote a comforting atmosphere for friends, family and acquaintances of the deceased. One of these resources is the use of anecdotal stories, which move the audience to recall happy passages.

Stories are often included as a mechanism to convey a positive message that motivates the deceased to overcome. Telling stories during a funeral ceremony is not an easy task. The speaker must choose his or her words carefully so as not to evoke negative feelings that could exacerbate the suffering of those present.

During the development of the following session, we will be analyzing some of the basic aspects that revolve around this topic. To do so, we will make a series of recommendations that may be useful if you plan to include stories during a funeral speech.

What is the audience's wish?

Not in all funeral ceremonies those present wish to embellish the mourning with anecdotal stories. For many, the use of this resource can add to the sadness and grief they feel for the deceased family member. The first thing you should do before including a story in your speech is to find out what the wishes of the loved ones attending the ceremony are.

Do not take the liberty of evoking memories and anecdotal passages before consulting with the audience. This way you will be sure that the result of using this resource will be positive for everyone who attended the ceremony.

Use stories to convey a message: Stories make the most sense when they are used as a means of conveying a positive message. They do not have to be anecdotal or true. Many stories told at a wake come from the fiction and creativity of the speaker. The speaker can combine real and fictitious facts in order to liven up the meeting and improve the mood of those present.

Try to elaborate a powerful message. Keep in mind that you will be addressing an audience that is emotionally unstable, so any controversial word or idea could unleash unwanted feelings. Focus on simple stories, don't use complex structures and use plain and understandable language. Likewise, taking into account the characteristics of this type of communicative act, avoid exceeding the time that the story occupies in your speech. Ideally, stories should be short and concise.

Accompany the stories with audiovisual material: One of the most effective ways to embellish and add emotion during the narration of a story is to accompany it with some audiovisual material related to it. As we warned in the first point of this guide, you should always consult with those present if they want this type of resources to be used during the speech.

If the story you will tell is anecdotal or alludes to the deceased or his loved ones, you can use materials such as photos and videos provided by the family and people close to the deceased. In case the story is fictitious or more generic, you can embellish it with audiovisual content that is related to the story.

The audiovisual materials used should be in tune with the ceremony. You should not use images or videos that could be perceived as insensitive to the pain of others. By this we mean that it is necessary to mourn at all times and to respect the atmosphere of the room. That said, avoid excessive euphoria or joy in order to maintain the coherence of our speech.