Love Your Audience Like Oprah
Do we make art for ourselves or our audience?
It is a difficult balance. It is easy to let negative feedback and criticism turn you inward to try to make art only for ourselves and not for an audience. It is easy to start to resent people for not understanding your work.
Oprah Winfrey dealt with a lot of criticism. The most successful daytime talk show host and an iconic figure in American media today had to put up with relentless criticism.
She knew it was coming. When she auditioned for her new show in Chicago thirty years ago, and was given her big break she had to stop and ask Dennis Swanson, who hired her: “well, you know I’m black.” And then, “You know I’m overweight.”
“Well so am I and so are many Americans,” Dennis responded.
How do you get past that fear of failure? How do you get past the criticism?
You love your audience and create art for the both of you.
Oprah’s Susie
Oprah didn’t let that fear of being different hold her back. Her first show erupted with the kind of energy her audience came to expect over the years.
They loved her and she loved them.
That love can’t be overstated enough in Oprah’s rise in popularity. Yes, she was talented. Yes, she was skilled. Yes, she had the energy and charisma needed to catapult her show to the top. But what she had that really sets her apart is her love for her audience.
They called her Susie. Susie was the name for the stay-at-home mom and young women watching the show during the day. They made shows for her. It just so happened that it was easier to relate with her because Oprah and her producers were mostly women too dealing with the same issues Susie was.
They would sit down and decide what to make their shows about based on their own experiences. Then Oprah would ask two very important questions:
- Would Susie like this?
- How would this effect Susie?
Relating to the Audience
In the first fews seconds of every show, they answered these questions for the audience. They stated right at the top of the show how the topic of the day would effect the audience. Whether it was dating or dieting, the audience knew exactly how the guest or the discussion of the day was going to have a real-life impact on their lives.
Oprah stated in the very first episode that her show was about changing your life. It wasn’t just entertainment. They were helping women change their lives. Soon after the show went nation-wide the letters started pouring in. They wrote about how they started dating or broke up or decided not to commit suicide. Lives were changed.
The people working on the show knew that they had something special and worked long hours committed to the idea that they were creating something good in the world.
All this success came down to one simple disposition: love your audience.
When Oprah recalls her days on the show, she tears up when talking about the audience. She loves them — truly loves them.
She attributes her success to them, when in fact her success come down to something much more simple: she loved them and they loved her back.
Inspired by episode 1 of the Making Oprah podcast by WBEZ in Chicago.
