Is your pitch Oprah worthy?
“Can you get us on Oprah?’
On erelease.com, the founder, Mickie Kennedy gives tips and information on how to respond to that question.
“Yes, in theory.”
You can get on Oprah but it is not easy and luck plays a part. One trivial aspect of pitching to Oprah is the foundation of successful public relations, doing your homework, research.
The Oprah Winfrey Show is part of a production company, Harpo Productions, that also produce Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray. eReleases is not aware of one of their clients that made it onto the show. Some received calls from screeners but being called to appear on the show never happened. Their clients however have made it to USA Today, NPR, PBS and other media outlets.
Why hasn’t Oprah invited eReleases clients? A major reason is the fact that she only does a couple hundred shows a year. That’s a limited amount of slots as compared to a newspaper or publication.
You also are contending against tens of thousands of pitches and requests. Most of these pitches are not going to make it past the low-level gatekeeper.
When pitching make sure to lead with facts and then weave the emotion through the story.
In order to make a pitch Oprah-worthy all you have to do is watch a few episodes. But if you don’t have time to do it here are topics that make your product or service worthy:
Hot Topics & Buttons – If your service or product has been around for a while it is unlikely to resonate with Oprah’s audience. Oprah is known for launching unkown products.
A Story - Oprah loves to discover talent/ guests with a personal story.
Positive Message – a common theme to an Oprah segment is elevation, where a preson has to overcome an obstacle to make it to the level they are at today.
Feminine Appeal - the majority of Oprah’s audience is female. It will be harder to get on the show if it is aimed at men.
Make sure to check out Oprah’s website, Tell Us Your Story, where she looks for guests in accordance with various topics.
Tags: Public Relations
