The magic isn’t there on the first try. If you hear a good interviewer, watch a polished video series, or read a compelling blog, you see the tip of the iceberg. Everything below the surface is the practice rounds worked behind the scenes and in previous performances.
It would be nice if you could start a project and everything would work wonderfully on the first attempt. However, usually successfully executing your ideas doesn’t work the first, or 20th, time. No one has liked the idea for “Umbrella Week” on my website, even though I still think it’s genius.
Personality and chemistry also take time to develop. We start as the heartless Tin Man wanting to connect with our audience.
I’ll use two non-divisive people (a Late Night Host and the United States President) to illustrate my point.
Polished professionals have to work through the struggles of making their “real thing”. “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” spent weeks doing practice shows (and brought over the experience of completing 11 seasons of “The Colbert Report”) before Stephen debuted in September 2015.
Even Colbert admits it was an awkward beginning. Colbert’s training was in playing characters, not in being himself.
A few days into his first week, he interviewed then Vice President Joe Biden. Colbert said the following when introducing the future President:
“When we see you, we think that we’re actually seeing the real Joe Biden. You’re not a politician who’s created some façade to get something out of this or triangulate your political position or emotional state to try to make us feel a certain way. We see the real you.”
What Colbert might as well have been saying was, through three days, “You’re everything I’m not as a Late Night host.”
Biden was still grieving the loss of his son Beau, who had died four months earlier and had the early career tragedy of losing his first wife and daughter in a car accident. As Biden talked about these struggles, he turned to Colbert and said that he admired people who had gone through incredible loss. “And you’re one of them, old buddy.”
The façade of Stephen Colbert broke. The interview suddenly became both funny and emotional. The real Colbert related to Biden because he lost his father and brothers early in life. The two talked about getting through grief as children and parents. That was the first time the real Colbert shone through. As Biden walked off stage, Colbert said to his producer, “I think that nice old man just gave me my show.”
The Tin Man had a heart.
But Colbert immediately realized his mistake. As he told Terry Gross years later, the next day, Biden called and said, “Listen, buddy, if you ever call me a ‘nice old man’ again, I’m going to come down there and personally kick your ass!”
Colbert responded as a comedian would, “I promise you I won’t, sir. You’re clearly not that nice.”
Colbert’s struggles are common during the first 100 episodes of anything you produce (and 100 episodes is a guess and a nice round number). You’ll have glints of magic, but most of what happens will be rough. About a year after his debut, Colbert began to find his form. 14 months after his first show, Donald Trump won the Presidency and Late Night has never been the same. On election night, we saw the real Stephen address his audience. Without 200 episodes, he would have lacked that poise.
If you’re looking to develop a project, setting a goal of 100 episodes allows the necessary developmental space. This technique creates podcasts, blogs, TV shows and even Instagram accounts.
The rule is simple. Make 100 episodes and watch the improvements evolve naturally. Using the 100 episodes rule gives you the freedom to experiment and the goal of maintaining your work.
100 episodes can go fast. You can do 100 episodes in 100 days (basically Colbert’s model) if you’re ambitious. Or 100 speaking gigs in 30 days if you’re a frantic over-achiever.
One necessity for trying this 100-episode approach is allowing time for reflection. You need to consciously sit down and think about what does and doesn’t work within your model. Without this contemplation, there’s no way to grow. Reflection allows you to make changes based on your preferences, audience feedback and the counsel of people you trust.
I’m only on episode 38 for Those Stories. Sometimes, my heart and my wit haven’t found the page yet. However, I still have a few stops left on my road to 100 issues.
And I haven’t called anyone a “nice old man” yet.