Top 10 Tips for Getting Booked on Oprah
Tip #1
Tape and watch the show. Dozens of authors, speakers,
entertainers, and business leaders call me every year. The first
words out of their mouths are: "I want to be on Oprah." When I
ask them if they watch the show 90% say, "No." Part of preparing
for success is becoming familiar with the content, format, rhythm
and pace of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Your first step is to record two to four weeks of Oprah programs.
Then sit down in a comfy spot and watch them all at once. This
will give you a good sense of what's hot on Oprah and what she'll
be focusing on over the next few months (it does change and go in
cycles). Notice which producers (listed on the credits at the
end) are responsible for each particular type of segment. Send a
producer information only after you are sure of who you'd like to
approach and why.
Tip #2
Explore Oprah's website. Oprah's web site, http://www.oprah.com,
has as much information as you will ever need to get on the show.
There, you can review her entire wish list of subjects. She even
makes it easy for you with a link called, "Be on the show." With
the touch of a key you can send an email that will reach her
producers instantly.
Make your topic relevant in a short paragraph to receive a quick
response. Let the producers know that you'd be glad to hop a
red-eye at a moment's notice to be a part of their show and you
increase your chances of being invited.
Tip #3
Get to know Oprah's
preferences. Do you know what Oprah's favorite book is? Do you
know where she was born? Do you know what her favorite outfit is?
If you do a little research on Oprah, the woman, you stand a much
better chance of getting on Oprah, the show. Like anyone, Oprah
has certain hot buttons; pressing the right ones (overcoming
childhood hardships) and avoiding the wrong
ones (satan or psychics) can make or break your pitch. You can
find lots of biographical information at her web site and, if
you're diligent searching the Internet, you should be able to
find several interviews that may yield the tidbit you need to get
her immediate attention. But you don't have to spend hours
researching Oprah online; Susan Harrow has already done this part
of the job for you. You'll find the results of years of research
within the pages of The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on
Oprah.
Tip #4
Pitch a hot topic. Never pitch
your book, your business, or even yourself. Always pitch a story
idea -- something that's newsworthy now: a pressing national
issue, a controversial subject, a problem for which you have the
solution, a common myth debunked. Propose a topic that is
relevant to Oprah's audience (controversy, relationships,
personal triumph, make-overs) then prove you are the expert on
that topic by telling only the information that is relevant to
the idea you're pitching.
For acting coach Cynthia Brian, author of Be the Star You Are!,
we
created a pitch about how she helps teenagers work out their
problems by role playing with them on camera. We proposed a
make-over show with before and after footage for parents with
difficult teens. Although the show idea isn't directly related to
her book this is an area of Brian's expertise -- and Oprah has
been doing a lot of shows around parent/teenage relationships.
Think about the areas in your personal or professional life where
you're an expert and connect that to a provocative theme.
Tip #5
Put together a winning press
kit. Start with a pitch or angle page with two or three different
ideas, and a paragraph bio highlighting your expertise as it
pertains to your pitches. Be as brief as possible. You must be
able to sell your idea in one page. Remember Oprah's producers
get hundreds of packages every day. If you're the author of a
book that relates to the subject of the pitch, include a copy of
the book. If possible include a two-four minute video of you on
other talk shows or doing a presentation to a group. This will
help show the producers that you're a viable guest.
Tip #6
Create six dynamic sound bites.
Mark Twain defined a sound bite as "a minimum of sound to a
maximum of sense." Sound bites or talking points are the
essential messages you want to convey. Talk out loud the most
important ideas, concepts, and points you want to make as they
relate to the idea you are pitching.
Ask yourself, "What do I want my audience to remember?" Carla
Winter, the niece of Sol Wurtzel who ran Fox Film (Twentieth
Century Fox) with founder William Fox described the success of
the studio this way: "For Fox Film it was an excellent director,
a good story and a box office star." In her book, The Myth of the
Perfect Mother, Jane Swigart said, "Being a mother is like asking
half the population to do brain surgery without sending them to
medical school."
These memory nuggets consist of anecdotes, facts, statistics,
stories, or something unlikely, unusual, controversial, shocking,
funny, humorous, romantic, poignant, emotionally moving, or
dramatic.
Tip #7
Make sure you're blurbable. The
average sound bite on TV is ten seconds. It takes some intensive
practice to make meaning in such a short time. Practice with a
timer until you can speak your message in ten to twenty seconds.
Tip #8
Get booked on local shows
first. Even before you consider approaching Oprah with your idea
get practice on your local news and talk shows. This will give
you a chance to fine-tune your sound bites so you won't be
shocked by the speed of national TV. Once you're on the Oprah
show as a guest you'll have between one and
seven minutes to communicate your entire message -- all in
10-second to 20-second increments. Once you have a good feel for
the rhythm of talk TV you'll feel more relaxed and ready.
Tip #9
Build Your Credentials -- And
Practice Your Public Speaking by Teaching. Oprah is looking for
experts who have experience and credentials similar to the show's
topic. Teaching a class enables you to quantify your knowledge
and experience in a concrete way. Oprah has a responsibility to
the audience to book only bona fide experts. Teaching credits
help make your expertise legitimate. Being the author of a book
brings instant credibility -- especially if it comes from a major
publishing house. Teaching what you know is excellent practice
for TV appearances. You get a chance to see how your material
works with an audience and find out what resonates deeply with
them. You sharpen your main points so that you're ready for
Oprah.
Tip #10
Wow the producers with brevity.
What do you do when you pick up the phone and an Oprah producer
is on the other end? Remember, the moment you open your mouth you
are auditioning. Keep your list of talking points by the phone
when you call a producer (or a producer calls you) so you'll be
succinct. You will already have rehearsed them so that they sound
natural and inviting. Make sure all your points are targeted
exactly to the angle you're proposing.
by Susan Harrow, Susan is a media coach and marketing strategist
and author of Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul: A Woman's
Guide to Promoting Herself, Her Business, Her Product, or Her
Cause with Integrity and Spirit (HarperCollins).
For the past twelve years, Susan Harrow has run Harrow
Communications, a media coaching and marketing firm in Northern
California. Susan specializes in presentation and media coaching,
and creating marketing strategies for executives, speakers,
authors and entrepreneurs whose work has a lot of passion and
heart.
Susan's clients include iVillage, PlanetRx, Pacific Bell
Directory/The Yellow Pages, Yoga Journal, Design Within Reach,
Bill Graham Presents, Gillette/Oral B, the North Face, Random
House, Doubleday, Celestial Arts, Peachpit Press/Addison-Wesley,
Gibbs-Smith, Larry Magid, Lee Glickstein, Carol Adrienne and many
others.
Susan's individual clients include top executives, Internet
millionaires, elite e-businesses, bestselling authors and
successful entrepreneurs. She has also worked with award- winning
documentary film producers, speakers, personal coaches and people
in unusual occupations such as Jesuit priests, leaders in banning
racism, and Ayurvedic chefs.
About the Book, The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah:
Ten Steps to Becoming a Guest on the World's Top Talk Show by
Susan Harrow Published by Harrow Communications (2004 Edition,
133 pages, bound book $147, e-book PDF $147) Available through
this site or directly from http://www.bookedonoprah.com
Top media coach and marketing strategist Susan Harrow, along with
her team of the best publicists in the business, show you what it
takes to land an appearance on Oprah!, the top-rated talk show in
the world. The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah is
filled with Harrow's own personal experience media coaching and
creating angles for her "Oprah" clients, exclusive interviews
with prestigious publicists, case histories of famous people,
authors, and entrepreneurs like you, insider secrets, hot tips,
"off the record" comments, and focused strategies to give you a
look at what it REALLY takes to get on the show and become a
media sensation. Here are some of the insider secrets you will
learn in The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah:
Learn the themes that reflect Oprah's values and standards, and
clever ways to work those themes into your pitches. Did you know
Oprah receives 25,000 letters each week? How to make sure your
pitch doesn't get lost in the pile. There are actually some
pretty large downsides to being on Oprah -- find out what they
are and why some potential guests refuse to be on the show. What
are the top 10 qualities of an Oprah guest? What to do if your
pitch is rejected -- it's not the end of the road. Four top
publicists share their tips for how to pitch Oprah by e-mail,
phone, mail, and in-person. Learn the top 5 pitching mistakes and
how to avoid them. Is it okay to pitch two Oprah producers at the
same time? Learn what happens in Oprah's "green room" where
guests mingle before the show.
What's the one sentence that can save your Oprah segment from
going down the tubes? The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on
Oprah is the first and only complete Oprah book of its kind. You
won't find another book on or off the net that shows you how to
get on Oprah and then make the most of your appearance. What
you'll soon have in your hands is the most updated, comprehensive
information you can get on the market today.
Copyright (c) 2004 by Susan Harrow. All rights reserved. Please
feel free to duplicate or distribute this file as long as the
contents have not been changed and this copyright notice is
intact. Thank you.
