Who wants to be on the Oprah Winfrey Show? Almost everyone. Ambitious authors, business professionals, and charity organizations have aspirations to be on the show that's seen in 111 countries worldwide. But very few of them make it on to the show. And once they do their appearance can either be a bomb or a boon for their business.

A number of my clients have been on the show and had almost nil happen in terms of fame or fortune. Others, well, their products and books sold like hotcakes--that's the dream isn't it? How can you be like the successful clients of mine?

You have until 2011 to try, as Oprah has extended her contract with King World Productions until then. How do you begin? You don't need a big name publicity house to get you on Oprah. But you do need a number of things.

1. Pitch a Hot Topic.

A hot topic is one that everybody is talking about--or should be. Many people ask me if they should keep sending the same idea in over and over again if they get no response. The answer is no. No response means you haven't gotten the attention of any of the producers. You can either come up with another related idea, different angle, or give a topic you've proposed a slight twist.

2. Check out the Upcoming Shows and Regular Features on Oprah's Website.

Go to her website and read what Oprah's producers need now. Right there on the site they tell you about the shows they are planning--if they can get the right people for them. Think carefully about how to word your email to fit exactly what the producers need. You'd be surprised at how few people don't know how to do this. If you can, you'll stand out instantly from thousands of other people who ramble and just jot off a careless note. Take your time. Craft your idea thoughtfully.

Oprah's producers encourage you to be succinct by limiting the number of characters you can send to 2000. This is about 150 words or two short paragraphs. One of my clients, a surgeon, who already had the attention, (and direct phone number), of one Oprah producer from another topic we pitched, saw that producers were looking to do a show on embarrassing medical problems. She immediately sent off a pitch showing how, as a doctor, she could help people from literally *dying of embarrassment.* Very smart.

3. Research the Message Boards.

You'll find out the kind of stories Oprah's audience want by checking out which stories are most popular on her site. If a topic really sticks then Oprah may do a variation of it in the future as she's very responsive to her audiences needs. You don't even need to read the stories. Just look at the total number of messages for each subject. Then craft a pitch geared toward the topic that has high interest.

4. Speak with a Golden Tongue.

Golden tongues are the ones who don't wag much. They get to the point--an engaging one--quickly. A producer will verify that you can keep an audience's attention by calling you. During this *audition* she's testing to see if you can say something meaningful in 15 second soundbites. If you can't you won't be speaking on the Oprah Show.

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