Michelle Obama shock: Ex-FLOTUS and Oprah Winfrey achieve sold out speaking tours

Former First Lady Michelle Obama previously went on a speaking tour of her book, Becoming. With her speaking tour selling out and filling large venues, Michelle achieved a feat that not many speakers are able to accomplish.

Obama was a guest moderator in the Brooklyn stop of Oprah Winfrey’s speaking tour called Oprah’s 2020 Vision earlier this year. The tour included nine cities in the United States starting from January 4th and ending on March 7th. Each stop had a different celebrity moderator, from Lady Gaga to Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Jennifer Lopez, and Winfrey’s longtime best friend, Gayle King. Winfrey also achieved the same turnout, her wellness speaking tour selling out large venues.

But contrary to Winfrey, Obama’s tour included 31 stops in both the United States and Europe. Nevertheless, the pair have achieved what many speakers and speaking tours are not able to accomplish, by filling large venues and selling out dates. Not even the Clintons, who also did speaking tours together, could produce the same result as they averaged 3,700 tickets a show.

Looking into the numbers, Obama’s speaking tour averaged $1.595 million and 13, 176 tickets a night. Her numbers only are a tiny margin lower than Winfrey’s by 1.5 percent, as Winfrey averaged $2.1 million and 13, 375 tickets a night. Obama’s speaking tour overall finished between $55 to $60 million.

In other news, the former First Lady recently shared a reminder on social media for Americans to show some gratitude towards the first responders and healthcare workers that are on the frontlines in the midst of the pandemic. Taking to Twitter, Obama tweeted, “If you’re feeling as grateful to - and in awe of - our first responders as I am, now is the time to let them know. A handwritten letter, a social media post, or a simple “thank you” text can go a long way in showing our appreciation for these heroes among us,” along with photos of children’s drawings and messages to those at the frontlines.

Her husband, former President Barack Obama previously echoed the same sentiment on Twitter. “We owe a profound debt of gratitude to all our health professionals and everybody who’ll be on the front lines of this pandemic for a long while. They’re giving everything. May we model our own behavior on their selflessness and sacrifice as we help each other through this.”