How to Write a Press Release

Here’s How to Write a Better Press Release

It used to be that writing a press release fell under the specialty of the PR man, but that kind of thinking is a relic of the distant past.

In today’s world of media manipulation and shameless self-promoting, anyone who has something to sell needs to know how to write a press release; whether you are selling a good, service, or yourself. America today is in the grip of media overload and it isn’t going to get any less cluttered any time soon. As a result, if your press release even smacks of looking non-professional, it will be filed under T for trash.

The first rule of writing a top-notch press release, therefore, is to get yourself professional-looking letterhead stationary.

Spare no expense in getting yourself stationary that has the appearance of a Fortune 500 company, even if your “company headquarters” is the smallest bedroom in your house. Like a web site, image is everything in the world of writing a press release.

The letterhead should include such vital information as the name of you or your company—and it only makes sense to shell out the minimum investment necessary to register a small business name—as well as the address, phone number and e-mail of the company. Of course, it should go without saying that the actual paper your letterhead is printed on is of the highest quality. If your letterhead doesn’t provide information such as your address or web site, then you should add that within the text of the press release itself. All contact information should be preceded by these words: For more information contact. The traditional method of writing a press release begins, in all caps, with this phrase: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. These words are aligned flush with the left margin and should include a date when necessary as part of the information contained within the release. Should the inclusion of a specific date not be necessary, forego adding it since press releases may be filed according to date; those without a date tend to stick around longer inside the in-basket. Contact info is then situated in the release, followed by your headline.

The headline needs to be centered and typed in all capital letters.Study some actual newspaper headlines before trying your hand at this, since the headline of a press release should be reflect the terse style of a real headline. Your press release headline should be to the point and let the reader know in no uncertain terms what event you are publicizing. But it also needs to be catchy and stylish so that it grabs their attention. When a particular name or location or event is important, be sure to add that information to the headline. The headline is followed by the first paragraph, better known as the lead paragraph. When writing this, keep in mind the journalistic tradition of making sure your lead paragraph contains the who, what, where, and when of the event you are looking to publicize. The fifth W—why—can wait until the second paragraph. When describing the why, don’t get loquacious. Just simply explain exactly why this event is newsworthy.

As in journalism, there is a traditional progression that takes place within the press release: start with the most vital information and work your way down to the least important. And, above all else, avoid anything that you don’t really consider to be important. The keyword when writing a good press release is succinct. It shouldn’t take anyone more than a minute to read a press release; forty-five seconds is even better and thirty seconds is your goal.