10 Steps for Drafting an Effective Press Release
10 Steps for Drafting an Effective Press Release
1) Choose a newsworthy topic.
The emphasis for newsworthy is on the word “new.” The release must discuss a recent development or frame the topic as a new one.
2) Use the local angle as a news hook.
You can increase the coverage of your release by focusing, in the headline and the body of the release, on your organization’s physical location. For example, “Church Sends Group to Rebuild House in New Orleans” may not garner as much regional publicity as “Greenwich Church Sends Group to Rebuild House in New Orleans.”
3) Keep the writing factual and concise.
A press release should state the facts in a direct, succinct manner.
4) Use the inverted pyramid style.
The most important, newsworthy facts belong at the beginning of the release with supporting information below. The “inverted pyramid” also refers to the decreasing newsworthy value in each subsequent paragraph.
5) Re-state the headline in the first paragraph.
The first paragraph of the press release should re-state the headline almost word for word. It should only be two-to-three sentences long.
6) Describe and quantify the newsworthy element in the second paragraph.
The second paragraph should describe why the first paragraph is newsworthy and provide any supporting numerical data.
7) Provide a quotation with a favorable opinion in the third paragraph.
The third paragraph should contain a quote from your CEO, and this is the only place in the entire release to include an opinion about the topic. Also, you should not introduce new facts in the quotation. These facts belong in the body of the release.
8) At the end of the release include a “boilerplate” describing your company.
The boilerplate should be the same in every release you distribute and should be given a subhead, “About [My Company].” It should be about two paragraphs long and include your company’s main activities and prominent clients as well as its qualifications. For smaller companies, the boilerplate should also provide a short bio of the CEO.
9) Keep the length short.
No press release should EVER be more than two pages.
10) Check carefully for spelling, grammatical or punctuation errors.
Editors may receive up to 300 press releases per day. Errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation make your release look unprofessional and may result in its immediate rejection.
10 Steps for Drafting an Effective Press Release - To learn more about this author, visit William Gissen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Creating an effective press release represents one of the most fundamental elements of any public relations program, and there are several basic rules to help you write one.
1) Choose a newsworthy topic.
The emphasis for newsworthy is on the word “new.” The release must discuss a recent development or frame the topic as a new one.
2) Use the local angle as a news hook.
You can increase the coverage of your release by focusing, in the headline and the body of the release, on your organization’s physical location. For example, “Church Sends Group to Rebuild House in New Orleans” may not garner as much regional publicity as “Greenwich Church Sends Group to Rebuild House in New Orleans.”
3) Keep the writing factual and concise.
A press release should state the facts in a direct, succinct manner.
4) Use the inverted pyramid style.
The most important, newsworthy facts belong at the beginning of the release with supporting information below. The “inverted pyramid” also refers to the decreasing newsworthy value in each subsequent paragraph.
5) Re-state the headline in the first paragraph.
The first paragraph of the press release should re-state the headline almost word for word. It should only be two-to-three sentences long.
6) Describe and quantify the newsworthy element in the second paragraph.
The second paragraph should describe why the first paragraph is newsworthy and provide any supporting numerical data.
7) Provide a quotation with a favorable opinion in the third paragraph.
The third paragraph should contain a quote from your CEO, and this is the only place in the entire release to include an opinion about the topic. Also, you should not introduce new facts in the quotation. These facts belong in the body of the release.
8) At the end of the release include a “boilerplate” describing your company.
The boilerplate should be the same in every release you distribute and should be given a subhead, “About [My Company].” It should be about two paragraphs long and include your company’s main activities and prominent clients as well as its qualifications. For smaller companies, the boilerplate should also provide a short bio of the CEO.
9) Keep the length short.
No press release should EVER be more than two pages.
10) Check carefully for spelling, grammatical or punctuation errors.
Editors may receive up to 300 press releases per day. Errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation make your release look unprofessional and may result in its immediate rejection.
10 Steps for Drafting an Effective Press Release - To learn more about this author, visit William Gissen's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to William's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Increase productivity Residual Income Get Working Capital Setting Priorities Worksheet Business Building Check List |
|
 | ||
 |
The Top 10 GTD Times Posts
Best Posts for Productivity | |
 |
Write The PR
Press Release Builder | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
