Masonry Magazine September 2002 Page. 47
Press Releases: What to Include and How to Write Them
What questions would your customers do? Try to think like a detective who has to write a complete synopsis based only on the information you provide in the release. Anticipate the questions you'd have if a competitor of yours had an announcement. What would you want to know? Press releases are public documents, not sales hype, so this is not the time to be cagey or coy. Spell it out.
Company boilerplate or bio-These company descriptions are located at the end of every release and range from beautifully brief to Ph.D.-dissertation long. Aim for the "30-second elevator speech" type description if you can.
Trademarks - If your company name and/or products and services have trademarks, include them at the very end of the release. Remember, only you can protect your trademark or copyright.
Writing Style: Follow the 10K
Now that you know what to include, what should you know about writing style? If you ask editors what they dislike most about the press releases they receive, their answers are consistent. They don't like copy that is full of hackneyed superlatives, such as "leading provider," "state of the art technology." If you want to see what good informative copy can read like, take any large company's 10K form and try to emulate the tone. It represents a neutral reporting style that conveys important messages in an enlightening manner without sounding like a circus hawker with a microphone.
If you try to think of press releases as narrative, legal documents that briefly announce a milestone or event, you'll significantly increase your chances of getting your company noticed by the media. They'll remember you for your brevity and appreciate you for your straightforwardness.
Linda VandeVrede is the principal of Vande Vrede Public Relations, a Scottsdale, Ariz, company that serves clients nationwide. Vandevrede Public Relations offers expertise in public relations, crisis planning, issues management and analyst relations.
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