Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeart Radio. Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is that feedback is about the person giving it. It can be helpful or unhelpful, but it is important to keep it in perspective.
I recently reread Tara Moore's book, Playing Big, which has lots of helpful tips about finding your voice and becoming more influential. Moore reminds readers that feedback from your target audience is incredibly helpful. But with feedback in general, you have to keep in mind that it is simply telling you about the person who is giving it. Nothing more.
Here is one quick exercise Moore suggests as a way to realize this. Think about a book you read recently that you enjoyed. Now, go to Amazon and read the reviews. Read a five-star review and read a one-star or two-star review. Because for almost every major book, there are going to be some of both. Sometimes these polar opposite reviews can even be talking about the same thing.
Someone thinks the characters are wildly inventive. Someone else thinks they're unbelievable. All that feedback really tells you is that the first person likes characters who require a little more imagination and that get you into a different world. The second likes characters that you feel you already know. Now, neither is particularly right.
It might matter which reader is in the target market, but you don't really get to stand there in a bookstore or library and dictate who picks it up. Now, if you'd like to get your book published by a particular publisher,
and the editor who acquires your kind of fiction likes characters in a certain style, well, that feedback will matter if you want that particular outcome, but with a lot of feedback to each her own. Now, if you get a lot of a particular kind of feedback and it resonates with you, incorporate it. If you get a lot of feedback that doesn't resonate with you,
But those people aren't in your target market and aren't decision makers in whether your project sees the light of day. Well, feel free to thank people for their feedback and move on. I think this is so important because I have seen people try to adjust their entire style based on, say, one review left on a podcast.
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Chapter 2: What is the main message about feedback in this episode?
I have seen people wither based on one critical comment on their outfit or something like that. Once upon a time, people could only give such feedback in person, which tempered the comments a bit. Once you are over the age of eight or so, very few people will flat out insult someone to their face. But online, people can become playground tyrants again.
Now, again, this isn't to say some feedback isn't helpful. I have had incredibly helpful editors in my life. I've also had not so helpful editors. I've had readers give suggestions which changed my whole insight on something. It is truly a beautiful thing. I have also had readers give what sounds like really horrible suggestions.
So you just have to realize that feedback only tells you about the person giving it. It tells you if they liked your work or they didn't, or something they thought worked or didn't. It doesn't fundamentally say whether your work is good or not. When you realize that, you feel free to incorporate what is helpful, but keep your sense of self and control over your work when it isn't helpful.
There are a lot of critics in the world, so best to keep that mindset. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening. And here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at LauraVanderkam.com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
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Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy. Not quite. On Humor Me with Robert Smigel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guests, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an acapella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?
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Chapter 3: How can feedback from your target audience be beneficial?
We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the Enhanced Games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential.
Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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