The Art of Writing a Press Release
Writing a press release is far from rocket science. It's actually
pretty simple. The goal, of course, is to get some sort of media coverage for
either yourself or your client. The key to getting that coverage is two-fold:
news and interest. What are you announcing that is of interest to, say newspaper
readers? Why, for example, would magazines want to know about what's in your
press release?
If you can answer these questions, you're already on your way to
writing a great press release; if you can't, you need to figure it out before
you begin writing.
Basis of a good Press Release
You may have learned this back in high school journalism, or
somewhere else along the way. It's tempting to think there's something more
modern, but in this case, the old way still works. The basis for any good press
release is the old:
Sometimes the who and the what are reversed, but, on the whole,
people are more interesting than things - the people involved in the event or
project are what media usually hangs the story on. If the who of your story is
someone local, so much the better.
A Hook or Lead for Your Press Release
The first 10 or so words of your press release are the most important because
that's what will hook the reporter and/or the reader into reading the rest of
the information. Keep it short and pithy. If you do this right, your headline
and subhead will come naturally.
Some General Rules for Press Release Writing
- Then you simply tell the rest of the story as well as you can.
- Write your press release in the third person.
- Use quotes if at all possible
- Keep it short - shorter items are more often picked up than longer ones -
if a media outlet wants more information they will contact you.
- Double check contact information.
Sample Press Release
Here's a press release I did for a local church. It was picked up whole in
two newspapers and used in a couple of others as the basis of an announcement:
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On Church Letterhead
Date:
Contact:
Elizabeth
(xxx)xxx xxx
PRESS RELEASE! FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
7th Annual
Appreciation Luncheon Honoring Emergency Personnel
The Hilltop Center for Spiritual
Living (Fallbrook Church of Religious Science)
will hold its seventh annual appreciation luncheon honoring local
emergency personnel on Wed., Feb. 15 starting at 11:30 a.m.
The annual luncheon is a way for the
church and the whole community to say “thanks” to the fire department and
other emergency personnel who give so much protecting our community and
helping the people who live here.
The luncheon will be held at the
Hilltop Center for Spiritual Living, 331 East Elder, in
Fallbrook.
For additional information, and
reservations, contact Elizabeth at
(xxx) xxx xxx
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Use client's letterhead
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Put contact info right on top
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Make the timing of the release crystal clear
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Headline and hook are much the same.
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| Be sure to make
the address obvious |
| This is who the
public should call. |
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