TalkSpeechy
Being asked to speak for a coworker who has died is a specific kind of tribute - you may be representing a whole team or company, and your relationship was real but bounded by the workplace. Honesty about that vantage point, plus the team's collective memories, carries the speech.
Say who you're speaking for
Open by naming the group you represent - the team, the department, the people they worked with for fifteen years. It frames why you, and it makes the tribute feel like it comes from all of them.
Collect stories from colleagues first
Ask five or six coworkers for one memory each. You'll get the small, telling things - how they always covered the early shift, the terrible coffee they made, the new hires they quietly mentored.
Focus on character shown through work
How they treated people under pressure, whether they shared credit, what they did when no one was watching. Work reveals character, and those are the details a workplace tribute is uniquely able to give.
Acknowledge the family's greater loss
A line that hands the deeper grief to the family - 'we lost a colleague and a friend; his family lost so much more' - keeps the workplace tribute in proportion.
Keep it to three or four minutes
A workplace tribute is usually one of several speakers and shouldn't run as long as a family eulogy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you say in a eulogy for a coworker?
Name the group you're speaking for, share a few specific memories collected from colleagues, describe their character as shown through how they worked and treated people, and acknowledge that their family's loss is greater still.
How long should a tribute for a colleague be?
Three to four minutes, especially if you're one of several speakers at the service.
Is it okay that I only knew them through work?
Yes. Be clear about that, and lean on the collective memory of the team - a workplace tribute is meant to represent many people's experience of the person.
Want Help Writing a Colleague's Tribute?
Share what you and your coworkers remember, and we'll shape it into a respectful, well-structured tribute - in about a minute.
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