Press releases
by Garry Gamber
Writing a great press release
A press release follows a simple and fairly standard form. Those who receive
press releases demand simple, straight-forward, and interesting releases and
those who deliver such press releases stand the best chance of having their
story become published.
Preliminary
Whenever possible the press release should be written with a company logo at
the top of the page. If a logo or company letterhead paper is not available,
then the release should be printed on white paper with black ink and with a
simple, basic font. The paragraphs that make up the body of the release should
be double spaced, and the release should ideally fit on a single page. If a
second page is needed, it should be clearly labeled as the second page.
The words, “Press Release” should be located at the top of the page, and it
should be in all capital letters and in bold. Next follows the company’s contact
information; name, address, phone number, website address, and email address on
single spaced lines.
If the press release is available for immediate release, it should be written
in capital letters directly above the headline, or the release date should be
written if it is not available for immediate release.
The body
The headline is the next component of the release and it is often the most
important element of the release. It should be centered and in bold. The
headline needs to capture attention quickly while being short and to the point.
A sub headline, if needed, should be centered beneath the headline and written
in title case with both upper and lower case letters.
The first paragraph of the body of the press release follows the headline and
sub headline. It begins with the city and state of the release’s origin and the
current date. The press release is about an important and timely news item. It
is a news article about a new event, new information, a new product, or a new
publication. The first paragraph contains the important information about who,
what, where, when, and why, and it should be written in a straight forward
style.
The second paragraph presents the human interest side of the news event
without hype or exaggeration. It explains in detail about why the reader should
care about the event and how it will affect them. This paragraph is the place to
include a personal touch such as a good, short quote.
The third paragraph is the place to present a call to action. This short
paragraph tells the reader what they should do next. It presents the opportunity
for the reader to take action. If there is not a call to action then this
paragraph is not included.
The last paragraph is sometimes called the boilerplate, a few sentences of
standard text that are used repeatedly on similar press releases that are
submitted by the company. This paragraph describes the company and what it does.
The ending
Following the last paragraph the symbol “# # #” is used to signify the end of
the press release and it should be centered.
The last element of the release is a sentence which gives contact information
in case the news agency needs to contact someone about questions or inquiries.
A well-written press release will convey the important information to the
news agency in a readable, interesting, and professional manner, and will result
in the publication of the news event.
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