What Communicators Can Learn from Demi Moore’s Golden Globes Speech

Demi Moore accepts the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy award for “The Substance” onstage during the 82nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton on January 05, 2025. Photo: Getty Images

As a communication coach—but also as a human being and movie fan—I was moved and impressed by Demi Moore’s Golden Globes acceptance speech Sunday night for her masterful and fearless leading performance in The Substance.

Inspiring people to feel, think, and potentially do as Moore did is the ideal impact of every presenter, but whether she succeeded as the result of tactics or instincts, there’s a lot you can apply to your own communications to have a similar effect, so let’s unpack those elements.

Moore devoted all of her eye contact and passionate energy to her audience, enhancing her personal connection to them. It’s evident that Moore practiced her points because they were delivered simply, clearly, and precisely, prioritizing the message, not the words. At the same time, it didn’t seem like she memorized a script. She delivered an authentic presentation, not a staged performance.

She thanked them with meaningful context, like director Coralie Fargeat “for trusting me to step in and play,” co-star Margaret Qualley “for being the other half of me that I couldn’t have done without, for looking out for me,” and her team and supporters who “believed in me when I haven’t believed in myself.”

“Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a ‘popcorn actress’ and, at that time, I made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have. That I could do movies that were successful, that made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged, and I bought in and I believed that.” Most importantly, Moore made powerfully clear how the experience affected her so we can learn from it. “That corroded me over time, to the point where I thought that maybe this was it. Maybe I was complete. Maybe I’d done what I was supposed to do.”

“I’ll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting…” This preview line drew us in because we knew it was a “don’t miss it” moment. Moore then included a personalized call-to-action: “When we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough, or skinny enough or successful enough, or basically just not enough. I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know, you will never be enough. But you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’”

Moore closed with a personal thought that not only summarized her speech but reinforced her transformative realization: “I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and of the love that is driving me and for the gift of doing something I love and being reminded that I do belong.”