Who Is This Special Person?
(Tribute)
This experience is related to “Who Is This Stranger?” in obvious ways, in that it is designed to present another human being to the audience, but there’s a big difference in that this is a person with whom you are well acquainted.
This seems easy, writing about a person you know whose work and/or life you’re intimately familiar with. No problem, right?
But actually this is what makes it so difficult. Often when people are important and familiar to us, we tend to take them for granted, as they are simply part of the foundation on which our life is built. We stop seeing them clearly.
This is a practical experience, as at some point in your life you may need to honor another person by introducing them to an audience.
Presenting an award, a best man’s or maid of honor’s speech, a birthday or graduation, introducing a speaker, the foreword to a book, a eulogy—all could present occasions to pay tribute to a person who is important to you and to others.
AUDIENCE
You are writing for people who are interested in hearing about why this person is being honored. A tribute is almost always attached to an occasion that triggers the tribute, so the audience expectations will be inextricably tied to that occasion. A tribute at a retirement party is different from a tribute at a funeral.
Let the occasion dictate your audience’s needs, attitudes, and knowledge regarding the person you’re paying tribute to.
In many cases, the person being paid tribute to will also be present, so keep this in mind.
PROCESS
1. Choose the subject and occasion.
As straightforward as it sounds, choose someone you’d like to honor and then an occasion at which they’ll be honored.
2. Analyze the audience.
Knowing the person and occasion will help you determine the needs, attitudes, and knowledge of your audience. It will help you with tone and should even direct you toward appropriate content. You’ll also want to think about these audience elements in the context of the questions the audience will bring to the occasion, questions such as the following:
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Who is this person?
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Why are they being honored?
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Seriously, what makes them so special?
3. Brainstorm material.
Think of a tribute as a kind of argument in which you are offering a claim (this person is special and deserves recognition) and supplying supporting evidence and illustrations to support that claim.
Brainstorm material that will prove to be sufficient and compelling evidence for your audience, and don’t forget to keep it appropriate to the occasion.
4. Draft.
As you write, be aware of the appropriate length. You aren’t the star of the show. You’re just the warm-up act.
5. Try out your tribute.
Tributes are best appreciated when read aloud. Find some willing listeners who are not the person being honored and see how they respond. If they can answer the questions from the audience section, you’re probably on target. Make sure you’ve written a tribute, not a roast. A tribute gone wrong can be entertaining to the audience but offensive to the person you’re supposed to be honoring.
6. Revise, edit, polish.
Think how great it will feel to have this ready to go if you ever have need.
REFLECT
This will be a little awkward and you never need to show it to anyone, but imagine you were to write a tribute to yourself. What would you want included? What do you hope someone else would say about you if and when the occasion for you to be honored arises?
REMIX
Set your tribute to video and music. Take your tribute and turn it into a multimedia presentation complete with voice-over, visuals, and backing music.