Speaking
Oratory is the masterful art. Poetry, painting, music, sculpture, architecture please, thrill, inspire – but oratory rules. The orator dominates those who hear him, convinces their reason, controls their judgment, compels their action. For the time being, he is master.
David Josiah Brewster
For those of you who know me personally, you know how passionate I am about cremation and the death-care profession as a whole. It has been said that nothing defines the civility of a society better than how they treat their dead. If this is the case then we may be in for some incivility, to say the least. I believe it is our responsibility as a profession to educate the masses, the public and the grieving, to better understand the value of the funeral rite. I also believe that the funeral rite is dynamic, ever changing and not controlled by the profession but by the grieving public. I often ask “what is a proper funeral”? Sometimes I get the standard description of a “traditional” funeral complete with casket, embalming, viewing, burial, etc. What I almost never hear from our profession is “casket, embalming, viewing, celebration and cremation“. A “proper” funeral is whatever the grieving family wants and needs to mourn the loss of a loved one and to start the healing process of grief.
ALL funeral professionals, from the embalmer to the receptionist, from the family counselors to the cremation equipment operators, should be trained and well versed in what goes on in all areas of the business, especially the prep room and the crematory. We can’t serve the public without proper knowledge and we can’t succeed without serving. Families want experts in all fields and there are no exceptions.
I’ll deliver your choice of a variety of inspiring, challenging, and entertaining presentations to your group custom developed to your specific need
The following is a list of associations or organizations for whom I’ve presented.
- Cremation Association of North America
- National Funeral Directors Association
- International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association
- Funeral Service Association of Canada
- Ontario Association of Cemetery and Funeral Professionals
- Ontario Funeral Service Association
- Manitoba Funeral Serice Association
- Alberta Funeral Service Association
- Western Canada Cemetery Association
- Funeral and Cremation Services Council of Saskatchewan
- Crematoria Council of Sasketchewan
- Funeral Service Association of British Columbia
- Atlantic Provinces Funeral Directors and Service Convention
- The British Institute of Embalmers NAD
- The Dodge Company Sunshine Seminars
- Kansas City Community College
- Worsham College of Mortuary Science
- Washington State Funeral Professionals Annual Convention
- Kansas Funeral Service Association
- New Hampshire Funeral Directors Association
- Maine Funeral Directors Association
- Arizona Funeral Cemetery & Cremation Association
- Independent Funeral Directors of Virginia
- Iowa Funeral Directors Association
- Massachusetts Funeral Directors Assocation
- Hawaii Funeral & Cemetery Association
- Indiana Funeral Directors Association
- New York State Association of Cemeteries
- Kates Bolyston Publications, Publishers of American Funeral Cirector Magazine and American Cemetery & Cremation Magazine
- Stewart Enterprises
- Mid-America College of Funeral Service
- Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service
- Dallas Institute of Funeral Service
- Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service
- University of Central Oklahoma Mortuary Science Program