~ S P E C I A L ~ F E A T U R E ~
Top 10 Tips for
by
Getting Booked on OprahSusan Harrow
Author of the New Book
The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah:
Ten Steps to Becoming a Guest
on the World's Top Talk Show
INTRODUCTION
Susan Harrow is a media coach and marketing strategist who has had several clients on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She is the 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, which was released in paperback this year by HarperCollins/Quill. She is also the author of the new book, The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah: Ten Steps to Becoming a Guest on the World's Top Talk Show, on which this article is based.
The article summarizes not only Harrow's top tips but also those of an amazing cast of contributors to the book, including such "publicists to the stars" as Arielle Ford, Leslie Rossman, Donna Gould, and Annie Jennings, who have all had clients on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
More information about The Ultimate Guide to Getting Booked on Oprah -- and author Susan Harrow -- follows the article. Here's hoping to see you on Oprah!
Top 10 Tips for Getting Booked on Oprah
by Susan Harrow
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.
About the Author
SUSAN HARROW 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 oversized pages, 8-1/2" x 11")
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:
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.
- 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?
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.