3 Gold Strategies for Authors from Oprah’s Golden Globe Award Speech
Three gold strategies for authors emerged as I watched Oprah Winfrey’s acceptance speech at the Golden Globes Sunday night. As you may know, she received the esteemed Cecil B. DeMille Award for “outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment”.
Trusted non-fiction publishing experts share that key trends for books this year are providing hope and empowerment to readers. Consequently, these 3 strategies are tied to those trends.
We can take these strategies to heart and implement them to make our books more powerful and meaningful to our audiences.
Here are the 3 Gold Strategies for Authors
Inspire our audiences: Oprah inspires us as she shares her story as a young girl, sitting on the linoleum floor, watching Sidney Poitier accept the Oscar for best actor at the 36th Academy Awards. He was the “most elegant man” she had ever seen and he was being celebrated publicly on TV. This moment inspired her as a little girl, watching from the “cheap seats”, as her mom came home, bone tired from cleaning other people’s houses. She goes on to say that “little girls are watching now” as she became the first black woman to receive this award.
Empower our readers. In Oprah’s words, “Speaking our truth is the most powerful tool we all have”. We can speak up and be authentic. By sharing our personal stories, we can empower our audiences to create a better life, a more successful business, more meaningful relationships, deeper spiritual connections, or better health. Focus on empowerment. All of us have control to change our circumstances and create something better.
Instill a sense of hope. We can do this by sharing stories of how we, our clients, and others overcame adversity, challenges, pain, and grief. While sharing stories is important for connection and to illustrate key points, be careful not to leave readers too long in the “doom and gloom”. Doing so can be viewed as depressing. Weave into the stories that there is light at the end of the tunnel and there is hope. Oprah ended her speech by declaring “A new day is on the horizon.”
Did you miss Oprah’s 8-minute, thought-provoking speech?
It is well worth the time to watch. The full written script of her speech appears under the video of her time on stage on this page.
Share you comments on the 3 strategies below. I’d love to know what you think!
