Suyin Aerts
September 13, 2019

The right minority

I do have different role models, but Oprah Winfrey for sure is one of them. You can find many great things online she said. I once watched an interview with her were she stated she had the luck to be part of the right minority when she first came on TV.

In that same interview she also said that when she had her show, in the beginning, she did not fully understood that she had to "own" her show, that she needed to keep the talks always in her own hands. In an ideal world when you make your own show, you can decide who you put on he stage as an interviewer. And yes sometimes you need to go for the people that have ideas that are really not your ideas, that is why you want to bring them on after all to prove them wrong or at least prove the world they are wrong.

She realized at a certain moment that people wanted to use her show as a platform to spread their ideas. And when you feel this happens, you need to be able to keep it your show, not their channel for bad publicity. You must be careful how you counter this negative energy, be careful not to amplify the ideas. Or even take the platform away soon enough.

The ideas Oprah has about equability, democracy and many more values, I think as I do not(yet) know her personally, I share them with her, and beside her skills as a presenter (and the big dream I have to have a show like she has), this is one of te reason I would call her a role model.

What she says is very valuable. I agree when you are the interviewer, both on a stage or in front of the camera, you do give people a platform, that is your work.

Besides being prepared, you need to listen, always and all the time! be aware that they might use your succes, your show, as their platform. That is why a good moderator in a panel debate or a strong interviewer is someone with a lot of charisma, able to put his/her aura aside, but whenever needed be able to come back and take the show in his/her hands again. Especially off course when you are LIVE. You have to own the show.

Thank you Oprah, I am very happy that you were that right minority, the right black women(with a gigantic and beautiful aura) on the right time in front of that camera to take somebody else place at that moment and thank you talent scouts at that time for noticing what she would be able to bring us. Because when you are an interviewer, at the end of the day, you also want to make this world a better place by bringing the best people in the best way in front of that camera or on that stage.

Hope to be that right minority one day :-)

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