Power Your Research w/ Dr. Sheena Howard

Writing Op-Eds for Thought Leadership

• Dr. Sheena Howard

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Can mastering the art of writing op-eds be your ticket to thought leadership? Join us in this episode of "Power Your Research" as we uncover the secrets behind crafting impactful op-eds, especially for academics and thought leaders looking to establish their brand and influence. Learn how to construct a compelling op-ed with a clear argument backed by stories, facts, and examples. We’ll also emphasize the importance of originality, timeliness, and relevance to current trends to boost your chances of getting published. 

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Speaker 1:

I'd say an op-ed also seeks to make some sort of change, whether it's to inspire people to do something. Inspire people to see your reality is true. To petition a group or organization to do something. An op-ed has an argument which you want to lead to some sort of change, no matter how big or small that change is. I don't want my work to be stuck behind an academic paywall. I want to leave a legacy, I want to reach my potential and I want to change lives. This podcast, power your Research, is my attempt to help the smartest people in the world do that very thing. My hope is that you use the lessons I share to make more money than what your higher ed job can ever pay you. I've done it, my clients have done it, and so can you. My hope is that you'll apply what you learn here and one day join the Power your Research program where you can work with me one-on-one. The title of this was Writing an Op-ed for thought leaders. So one of the things that I realized lately that I do and I'm sure other people do this as well is I tend to use the terms blog and op-ed interchangeably, and I need to work on not doing this, because they are actually different things. While a blog post can be an opinion piece, an opinion piece generally has certain elements and certain outlets that you publish them in. So, while there are some similarities, I think it's best to distinguish between the two, and so we're going to be focusing on op-eds, because op-eds are the things that my PhDs who want to be thought leaders and build their brand and leave an impact. Op-eds are the things that you all need to be writing and getting published, big and small outlets alike, because an op-ed is going to be a major component in positioning you as the thought leader in whatever field you're in, whatever the thing is that you want to be known for or the go-to person. Sorry, I'm doing a lot of moving around here. So, focusing in on opinion pieces these are usually published in news outlets, in larger, more popular publications, and it states your argument. So an opinion piece has to have an argument. It is your opinion, backed up with stories, facts and examples, and an opinion piece is there. You should be writing it from the perspective to serve the reader, and so, whatever your opinion piece topic is, you want to make sure it's going to serve the type of readers that read this particular outlet, and that's important. When it comes to pitching your op-ed to a publication for placement, I'd say an op-ed also seeks to make some sort of change, whether it's to inspire people to do something. Inspire people to see your reality is true. To petition a group or organization to do something. An op-ed has an argument which you want to lead to some sort of change, no matter how big or small that change is. And then generally an op-ed is going to be original. So typically no major outlet is going to want to publish your op-ed if it has been published elsewhere. So, for example, if you write an op-ed on your blog and then you try to pitch it to, say, the New York Times, that will likely disqualify you from being able to publish it on the New York Times site because you've already published it somewhere else.

Speaker 1:

Outlets typically want an original piece, right, it doesn't really help them to be republishing something from somewhere else. Hey, everyone, real quick. I don't run any ads on this podcast, so I have to rely on word of mouth. If this podcast has helped you in any way, please share it with a friend and follow me, dr Sheena Howard, on LinkedIn, where I give more free content on building your brand as an academic. If you tell me you came to my LinkedIn from the podcast, I'll make sure I accept your request.

Speaker 1:

So some elements of an op-ed are it should be in your voice right your voice, your tone. It should be written with some sort of passion. I've found in writing op-eds, the more you do them, you get better. So from I used to write op-eds for the Huffington Post, from my first op-ed to my last one, you can see growth. You can see more comfortability with my tone and, leaning into my voice, you can actually read the progression of confidence between my first op-ed to my last one.

Speaker 1:

Another element of your op-ed is that if you want to get it published, it needs to connect to something that is trending culturally or in society. It has to be newsworthy, and newsworthy meaning timely. If it's not as timely or relevant to something that's happening in the culture now, you need to connect it to something that is happening in the culture now and that's super important because that's one of the things that a publication is going to want to see. Why does this op-ed topic matter now? So, for example, if you wrote an op-ed topic on. So, for example, if you wrote an op ed topic on, I don't know Tina Turner, since she just passed, or you know, the debt ceiling, or anything that is trending right now, or something that we need to pay attention to right now. When I say it doesn't need to necessarily be something in the news, although that would be my first choice if I were coaching you one on one it could also be some recent research that came out that you can connect a topic to. So you might say, a study just came out this week that shows that young kids are getting diabetes at alarming rates, and if this is a recent study, then you connect it to why it's relevant now. Right, this is alarming because kids are going into summertime and they tend to eat more junk food. Whatever it is, you got to make it timely right now in the way that you write the op-ed and then the way that you pitch it to the publication.

Speaker 1:

With an op-ed, even though it's called an opinion piece, you still are going to need to support it with facts.

Speaker 1:

You know, when you read op-eds, you see that there are a lot of blue links to different places, links to studies, links to examples that support what the person is saying, and then a final element of an op-ed is that it's non-promotional. Your op-ed should not feel like you're promoting your company or business or book. It's okay sometimes if you reference one of your books, as long as it is directly related to the content and it's there to help the reader, and editors can quickly see if your op-ed is just designed to promote you. And so you again back full circle. You want your op-ed to serve the reader first. You're thinking about the reader first and the change that you seek to make with your piece. So I hope that helps. If you're an academic or educator and you're building your brand, op-eds need to be a part of what you plan to do to become the thought leader that you want to become, to get the media coverage and visibility to make the change you seek to make and to leave the impact you want to leave you.