Tips for writing press releases

Press releases need to be written as a newsworthy article, but in one page. Too often pr clients, or even professional pr writers put too much fluff into a press release and not the facts. Maybe it is because the pr client wants to believe that their news is more important than those published. That isn’t a reason to not follow the unwritten rules of writing good press releases. newswothy publicity

Here are a few tips that we follow in the industry. Follow them, and you will have a better chance to get published.

1- Is the topic newsworthy? Announcing the new position of a person in your company may be news to you, but not to the reporters or editors. Even an open house isn’t “big news”. This doesn’t mean those releases won’t be published, but the odds are not very high they will. Try putting something exciting into these. For example, for an open house, announce that you are having a guest speaker, or will be offering something to the community.

2- Make your intro paragraph interesting, not a sales pitch. Give the reporter/editor something that wants them to read more.

3- Be sure you follow the AP style/formats and that it is grammatically sound.

4- Is the release fact based and well documented?

5- Make sure the message matches your target audience.

6- Be sure all the proper contact information is listed.

These are just a few of the important tips you need to write a good press release. Also, keep it to one page if possible.  Your list of media needs to be considered when submitting the release. But that’s another topic. If you search Google for “writing press releases” you will see that these tips are mentioned by most all professionals and editors in the industry.

Local Publicity and Speaking Engagements

All pr agencies, whether local in Orange County or national will tell you that one of the best ways to gain publicity and become recognized as an expert is to be a guest speaker.

For example if you are interested in finance, investing or retirement programs, or need legal guidance, you always look to the “speaker” as an expert. More often than not, that person usually gets accounts from those presentations. So if you are a pr client, or a publicity agency in Orange County, it is time to get out there and start speaking. First you do need to get prepared. So what do you do?

As with anything, you need to do your homework. Choose a topic that you have a vast amount knowledge to tell your audience. But before we go too far, here are a few tips on public speaking.

  • Practice in front of a mirror. Check to make sure your posture is good. Have good eye contact.
  • Do your presentation in front of family, or friends. Ask for criticism.
  • Practice, practice what you will say. It is good to be prepared with a speech, and it is best to be comfortable to inject some humor, or “live” comments to keep the speech fresh and entertaining.

Get more tips from other sources like Public Relations 101.

Prepare a list of different topics. Look at your market, or industry. If you have been in your industry for several years, you probably gave a lot of advice to customers or your staff over the years. Some of those pieces of advice can become great topics.

Work with your publicity agency to polish them up. If you do not have a local publicity agency in Orange County, then hire a consultant for a few days. It will be money worth spent. Get some additional points from other pr clients, or other publicity professionals. Getting people to listen will be easy once you are in front of them. So make the best of it and get out there!