In the days after a death, the person organizing the funeral is usually asked for a lot of words at once. The funeral home needs an obituary for its website and the local paper. The printer needs wording for the program. Someone has to stand up and give the eulogy. Then, a few weeks later, there is a pile of cards and casseroles to say thank you for. Each of these asks for the same facts and the same memories, told in a slightly different way.
The package is for that situation. You answer one set of questions about the person, in your own words, and Speechmade writes each piece from those answers. It's written with AI, and it uses only what you tell it.
What's included
- A eulogy to be read at the funeral, memorial service or celebration of life, timed to the length you choose.
- An obituary of about 300 words for the newspaper or the funeral home website, with the "survived by" and service details in the usual order.
- Funeral program wording for the front, the order of service, a short tribute and the thank-you and donations lines on the back.
- Three thank-you notes the family can adapt afterward: one for flowers or a card, one for food or help, and one for a donation.
You also get two free rewrites if something needs changing, and a copy of everything emailed to you so you can share it with the family or forward it to the funeral director.
How it works
The questions ask for the things families are usually asked for anyway: their full name and any nickname, where they were born and lived, the main parts of their life, what they were like, one or two stories, the family, and the service details. Notes are fine. You can write "Army, 2 years, Fort Hood" or "made tamales every Christmas Eve" and it will be turned into full sentences.
When you've finished, Speechmade writes the opening of the eulogy so you can read it before you pay. If it doesn't sound like them, you can stop there, and nothing else happens. If it feels right, the rest of the eulogy is written, followed by the obituary, the program wording and the thank-you notes.
A short sample of each piece
These samples were written from one made-up family's answers, for Josephine "Jo" Whitaker of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, whose son Michael is giving the eulogy. They are shortened here, so you can see what each piece looks like.
Good morning. I'm Michael, Jo's oldest, and I want to thank you all for being here. Mom would have counted the cars in the parking lot and then worried there wasn't enough coffee.
My mother was born Josephine Anne Kuehl in 1944 on a farm outside Vinton, the fourth of six kids. She met my dad, Ray, at a church dance in Cedar Rapids, and she used to say he stepped on her feet so many times she felt sorry for him. They were married for 52 years.
For 30 of those years she worked the front desk at Garfield Elementary. If you went to that school, she knew your name, your brother's name and which bus you rode. She kept a jar of peppermints on the counter and a spare pair of mittens in the bottom drawer, and she gave away a lot of mittens.
Josephine Anne "Jo" Whitaker, 82, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, passed away peacefully on September 14, 2026, at home with her family.
Jo was born on a farm near Vinton to Walter and Irene Kuehl. She married Raymond Whitaker in 1968, and for 30 years she was the school secretary at Garfield Elementary, where she knew every child by name. She sang in her church choir for 40 years and never missed an Iowa Hawkeyes game on the radio.
She is survived by her sons, Michael (Denise) and Paul; five grandchildren; and her sister, Carol Novak. She was preceded in death by her husband, Ray. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
Front: In Loving Memory of Josephine Anne "Jo" Whitaker. 1944 - 2026.
Order of service: Prelude. Welcome and opening prayer, Pastor Lisa Mendel. Hymn, "How Great Thou Art." Reading, Psalm 23, read by Emma Whitaker. Eulogy, Michael Whitaker. Closing prayer and benediction.
Tribute: Jo spent 30 years at the front desk of Garfield Elementary and never forgot a name. She gave her family a warm kitchen and a lot of good advice.
Back: The family thanks you for your kindness and prayers. Memorials may be made to the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
Dear [Name], thank you for the beautiful flowers and your card. Mom always had something blooming on the kitchen windowsill, and it meant a lot to see flowers there for her again. With love, the Whitaker family.
Dear [Name], thank you so much for the lasagna and for staying to help clean up after the service. You took a lot off our shoulders that week. Jo would have wanted the recipe. Gratefully, Michael and Denise.
Dear [Name], thank you for your generous gift to the Cedar Rapids Public Library in Jo's memory. She took her grandkids there every Saturday, and we know she would be pleased. With thanks, the Whitaker family.
Who it's for
Most people who use the package are the ones organizing the funeral: an adult son or daughter, a husband or wife, or sometimes a niece or close friend who has become the family's point of contact with the funeral home. They are often doing it under time pressure, with a newspaper deadline in two days and relatives arriving from out of state.
It can also help if the writing has been split between people. One person might be giving the eulogy while another is dealing with the program and the obituary. Working from one set of answers keeps the names, dates and spellings the same in every piece, which saves checking them four times over.
If you would rather write things yourself, the other guides on this site go through each piece step by step. There is a funeral program template with wording options, a page of funeral thank-you notes with examples, and a full guide to writing an obituary. If the family is planning something less formal, the celebration of life ideas page may help too.
What it won't do
It won't add anything you didn't tell it. If you leave out the date of death, or the name of a grandchild, those won't appear. It never mentions or guesses at how someone died. And it keeps religious wording only if you describe a religious service. If the service is at a funeral home chapel with no clergy, the program won't have a benediction in it.
Please read everything carefully before it goes to print. Check every name, date and time against the funeral home's details, and ask a second person in the family to read it too. The writing is a first draft for you to make your own.
If you are short on time
Start with the obituary, because the newspaper and funeral home usually need it first. The program can wait until the order of service is settled, and the thank-you notes can wait until after the funeral. There's no deadline on those.
More funeral planning guides
Common questions
Can I edit it?
Yes. Everything is yours to change. You can ask for a rewrite if something is wrong or the tone feels off, and you get a copy of every piece to edit in a word processor, share with the family or send to the funeral home.
Is it written with AI?
Yes. Speechmade uses AI to write each piece from the answers you give. It works only from what you tell it, so it won't invent names, dates or stories, and it never guesses at a cause of death. Please read everything through and check the facts before anything is printed or published.
What if we don't need all four?
That's fine. Many families only use two or three of the pieces. If you only need a eulogy or only need an obituary, you can choose either of those on its own instead. The package is there for families who would find it easier to answer the questions once.
How long does it take?
Most people take somewhere between a quarter of an hour and half an hour to answer the questions, and notes and half-sentences are fine. The eulogy opening is written as soon as you finish, and the rest follows shortly after you decide to go ahead.
Can someone else in the family answer the questions?
Yes. The answers don't have to come from the person who will read the eulogy. Some families sit down together and fill them in, or one person collects notes from brothers, sisters and cousins by text and types them in.