For 8 weeks in a row now, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” has topped the late night talk show leader, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” When Fallon took over for Jay Leno, his inclusion of viral videos, trending hashtags, and games made him the most popular host in the show’s history since Johnny Carson. Since Colbert took over for David Letterman, he has been in a comfortable second place in the ratings. But a lot has changed since 2015, and Colbert has been able to tap into his audience’s conscious by changing his presentation content.
How Changing Presentation Content Can Make You A Leader
With the aftermath of the 2016 election, comedians across the board have been changing their rundowns to address the new political climate. Few have the background like Colbert has, where he sat behind a desk for his Comedy Central program, “The Colbert Report” which was based off conservative news programs. With the country divided over President Donald Trump’s victory, Colbert tapped into the anger and frustration of those who were not happy with the election results.
No other late night talk show host on basic cable has been as unapologetic as Colbert. Fallon took on heat for having President Trump come on his show as a guest before the election. Some viewers felt Fallon played too nice, and failed to cover controversial topics surrounding President Trump, even played with his hair. ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel maintained his guy-next-door approach to his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and has failed to take advantage of the simmering political heat in the country. It was only Colbert who attended both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and took full advantage of the opportunity when the political rift finally boiled over.
By refocusing his content to speak directly to the anxiety and anger, and turn that into laughter, Colbert has changed his almost third place ranking into a top contender. While Fallon and Kimmel stayed true to their format, Colbert is more authentic. Millions still turn to both Fallon and Kimmel to forget about the day’s events and be entertained by light comedy. But it appears that more viewers are paying close attention to what is going on in Washington D.C. and at the end of the day, they want to vent their frustrations through edgy comedy. Colbert does just that, and does it more often than anyone else on television right now.
Presenters, take note. If you think you can get away with delivering last month’s presentation at that workshop next week, think again! Content will change over a short amount of time, and you audience will change too. To best deliver a message that resonates with you audience, fine tune your content to meet their needs. You are not giving your presentation for your own benefit, you are giving it to benefit you audience. Keep that in mind, and if you do, you will find yourself being a leader instead of a follower.
More from the Ethos3 Blog:
Inside Ethos3: Using Content Pitches to Develop a Strong Storyboard
The Complete Guide to Editing Presentation Content
Presentation Persona Spotlight: Stephen Colbert
