The daytime TV icon was the keynote speaker at the Nordic Business Forum in Helsinki on Thursday.
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Oprah Winfrey walking to the stage at the Nordic Business Forum on Thursday to deliver her keynote address. Image: Ville Maali / Yle
Iconic US talk show host Oprah Winfrey made her first ever visit to Finland this week as she delivered a keynote address at the Nordic Business Forum (NBF) on Thursday.
Although the forum promotes itself as “Europe’s largest business and leadership event”, Winfrey dispensed with the business jargon throughout her 90-minute speech, focusing instead on a more humanistic message.
Winfrey shot to fame during the 1980s, when her ground-breaking daytime TV programme The Oprah Winfrey Show revolutionised the talk show format by focusing on self-improvement as well as other more human-centred topics.
That focus was clearly evident during her speech at NBF too.
She told her sold-out audience that her long career as a talk show host taught her that everyone — from presidents to pop superstars to everyday people — are looking for one thing in life: validation.
“At the end of every conversation, I kept hearing the same thing: did you see me? Did you hear me? Did what I say get through?”
She added that there is however an inherent danger in this “disease to please”.
“When you do things with the intention to please other people, guess what: they feel pleased and keep coming back for more and your frustration, anger, and resentment don’t matter,” she said.
Her message certainly seemed to resonate with her Finnish audience, with one participant interviewed by Yle calling it “inspirational”.
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The venue at Helsinki’s Messukeskus was sold out. Image: Ville Maali / YleFee not disclosed
Oprah Winfrey follows in the footsteps of many other high-profile Americans who have taken to the NBF podium in recent years, including former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Al Gore, actors George Clooney and Will Smith, as well as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.
Securing Winfrey’s services was still seen as a significant achievement — although organisers remained tight-lipped about the fee she was paid. Yle inquired about the amount from NBF, but no response was received.
According to various US talent agencies, Oprah’s fees for private events hover around the 500,000 dollar (435,000 euro) mark, but large commercial events are believed to be significantly pricier.
NBF tried in 2018 to recruit Winfrey as a speaker, with Helsingin Sanomat reporting at the time that the star’s representatives requested a fee of 1.2 million dollars.