THE SECULAR CEREMONY: HOW TO TELL THE LIFE STORY OF THOSE WHO PASSED AWAY

FRIDAY 5 APRIL - 10:00 am -1:00 pm

The contents of the workshop will be as follows:

• The changing scenario of the contemporary funeral (brief historical excursus) and overview of the new needs of the client;
• The life story of the deceased: the heart of the secular ceremony. How to tell it effectively and respecting the wills: practical advice and examples of ceremony;
• Practical exercise: from the first contact with the client to the collection of the life story of the deceased, the narration during the ceremony up to the dismissal and feedback at the end of the service. The words to say and the appropriate behaviours to adopt.

This exercise will be developed in small groups and will also involve brain storming, role playing and creative/emotional writing techniques.

The added value of the lesson will be the personal involvement of the participants, who will be asked to take an active part in the classroom and create a useful text for the purposes of their activity, putting themselves into play with their own skills, knowledge, professionalism and with their sensitivity on such a delicate and universal subject.

The workshop, in the three parts mentioned above, with the related learning objectives, will be conducted both in frontal mode and in group work mode.

Key learning objectives

There are three key learning objectives:

• Acquisition of knowledge (theoretical part): knowledge and awareness of the changing scenarios inherent in the funeral ceremony;
• Acquisition of competence (practical part): practical advice, case study and learning of the basic concepts to be able to welcome the client, listen and understand the client's needs in order to then write and officiate a secular farewell ceremony;
• Acquisition of operational practice (operational part): practical exercise to create a draft of the ceremony which also includes the phase of welcoming the client and subsequent feedback at the end of the service.

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Paola Minussi
Paola Minussi is an author, musician, radio speaker and Intertek accredited secular-humanist celebrant.
Her mother tongue is Italian, she is fluent in English, German and Portuguese and is specialized in ceremonies in multiple languages.
After graduating at the Conservatory and the Master's degree in Modern Literature, she specialized in biographical and autobiographical writing techniques and has been teaching writing courses on these topics for years.
She is part of the teaching team of the Uaar courses for the formation of celebrants.

More information about her and her activities:
Secular-humanist ceremonies: www.latuacerimonia.it
Editorial publications: www.paolaminussi.com
Cultural promotion activities: www.womeninwhitesociety.org