Press releases are short, factual news stories written in the third person and given to the media to encourage editors/journalists/broadcasters to feature the story in their publications.

1. Make sure you have a newsworthy story

Must be something new or important to say find a newsworthy angle.

2. Target a particular media sector

Think about WHO will be reading it, who are you wanting to target – or just awareness in general

3. Answer the six W questions

Every press release should answer the six W questions (or more accurately, five Ws and one H) – who, what, where, when, why and how.

An example would be:

Who: The McNeal Method

What: Hosting the networking zone for the second year

Where: At the Blackpool Business Expo

When: 26 September

Why: helping to connect business owners locally

How: Chat to all businesses owners visiting the expo and see who they can matched up to in business to help mutually benefit both parties.

4. Use the inverted pyramid to structure the press release

Armed with answers to the W questions, you can now structure your press release using the classic inverted pyramid template. This enables you to present the most important information first.

Short, clear headline tells media what the story is about

Paragraph 1: sums up the entire story in one or two sentences

Paragraph 2: puts story in context – why it’s important

Paragraph 3: presents details – who’s involved, how it came about, etc.

Paragraph 4: includes a relevant quote to add information, credibility and/or opinion

Paragraph 5: shows where people can find more details, buy product, get involved, etc.

5. Write a newsworthy headline

As is often the case in copywriting, the headline is crucial. Press release headlines not only tell the reader what the story is about, they are your sales pitch to the media.

The following examples illustrate what I mean. The first version is too obvious. The second makes it clear what the story is about.

Ambiguous: Football crazy

Clear: Real Madrid signs Bale for record 100 million euros

Ambiguous: How green is our valley

Clear: Thames Valley Police wins environmental award

6. Write in the third person

As you are not writing to your target audience directly, you need to write your press release in the third person. So “ABC Ltd has signed a £5 million deal with XYZ Ltd” not “We’ve signed a deal with…”

7. Summarise the story in the opening paragraph

The opening paragraph complements the headline by giving a fuller explanation of what the story is about. The skill is in getting all the key information in without saying too much too soon. A good opening paragraph should be able to stand alone. Think of it almost like a radio news bulletin.

8. Put the story into context

If you think of the first paragraph as ‘who is doing/has done what’, the second and third paragraphs go on to give you more detail and explain the ‘why and how’ behind the ‘who and what’.

9. Stick to one story per press release

Discipline yourself to recognise when one story ends and another one begins. And don’t weave a weaker story into your strong one. You’ll simply dilute the good one.

10. Write a decent quote

Too many quotes are put into press releases simply to acknowledge the presence of a CEO, partner, sponsor, client, etc. There’s nothing wrong with having endorsements, just make sure they say something worthwhile.

“We are delighted” is the most overused phrase in PR. Not only does it state the bleeding obvious, it also adds nothing to the story. Quotes need to do one or more of the following:

Provide useful information/details not included elsewhere in the release
Explain why a particular product/service/partnership is of benefit to people
Give credibility to an unknown product/service/partnership
Express an opinion (ideally different or controversial) on an important issue
Not sound as if they’ve been written by the PR department/consultancy

For the download version of this guide, please click here: https://www.mcnealmethod.com/downloads/how-to-write-a-press-release
Check out all my other guides for help in other areas of your business!