Speaker 1: What is a press release? Simply put, a press release is a compelling and objective yet interesting story about something that happened, such as a funding announcement or the opening of a new office. When delivering it to journalists, it's important to include enough detail so that the journalist has a complete overview of all the information. It should not be commercial. Simply telling someone or others how great you are or selling something is not going to work. That's the realm of advertising and not PR. A press release should inform people in an objective way about what you want to make public. Now, only if the journalist is interested in the news, then they'll write about it in their publications. However, did you know that only 25% of press releases a journalist receives is getting picked up by them? That's why learning how to write one is very important. Now, when do you write a press release? When is news actually newsworthy? To start, you need to have something to write about. Making an event up isn't going to work and viewing all events as newsworthy also isn't going to work. Always ask yourself if the event you want to write about is something that the world should know about. What is the real benefit of others knowing about this? Maybe it's interesting, but maybe it's also just enough to simply write a small message about it on social media. Some examples of when to write a press release are a funding announcement or you're expanding into new markets, you've produced an industry research or a data report, or maybe the event that occurred has a large impact on businesses or society. So you have something interesting to say, now let's look at how to write a press release about it that will get noticed. Step 1. Do something newsworthy. I said it before, I'll say it again. Make sure that what you want to write about is actually worth your time and that of others. Have news that a journalist wants to cover and readers will want to read. If your news isn't newsworthy, no one will spend time writing about it nor reading it. Step 2. Choose your angle. Before you get to the actual press release writing, one of the most important things to start with is choosing the angle that matters for your target audience. The angle or hook can be tied to a societal event that took place and in other words is the perspective your story will take. Remember that the angle of a press release that will interest the readers of a specialist magazine will be very different than the angle used for a local newspaper. And also keep in mind that you're not only targeting potential readers, but you're also targeting journalists. If you don't do your research and you target the wrong journalist, writing a good press release won't get you anywhere to begin with. Step 3. Follow a journalistic press release structure. In order to be able to write a winning press release, it's also necessary to understand the press release structure. This means 1. Title and subtitle. Grab the attention of the readers. It's the first thing people will read and based on that they will make their decision whether they want to read the whole thing or not. So try to keep it short. This way it's easier to read, it looks more appealing and as long as it's not more than 110 characters, people might even tweet about it. Make it fresh, newsworthy, interesting, as the whole decision making process takes about 3 seconds. Number 2. Intro or lead. The second most important part of writing a press release is to craft the lead. That's exactly where the impatient ones will find the answers to the most important questions, including the 5 W's. What the news is about, who is involved, when and where it happened, and why it's important. Aim to answer the 5 W's briefly but hold to your readers attention. Number 3. The body or copy of your press release. You've written a grade headline, a sub-headline and the lead. Now it's time to write the body. Here are some tips. Write in the third person, write in a non-commercial, journalistic way, format for skimmers, meaning short paragraphs and fluff free, and use stats, figures and quotes. If you're basing your press release on external sources, make sure you cite them. That way you will become more credible in the eyes of your audience. It's essential to make sure that whatever you're linking to is legitimate and not fake news. So prove your credibility. Step 4. Essentials, because beauty is in the details. Give your readers the essential details, and by details I mean the basic information that is necessary to figure out why this press release is newsworthy. If you don't want to write a novel, just give a brief explanation and get the reporters excited about something they'll write about. It's always good to include relevant quotes to show the perspective of others. They bring another perspective to the text and make it more diverse. Quotes can easily make your text more interesting and more readable, and those should be good enough reasons to include them. Now additional data can also be good to include into your press release if there is any. If so, this is the time to do it, without actually overdoing it. Remember, sometimes less is more, and that's exactly the case when it comes to writing a good press release. Then, step 5. Contact details. Always introduce yourself. Don't forget to add contact details so the journalists will know how to reach you or anyone else worth contacting. Now, the second one, the boilerplate, is the perfect way to end a press release. If you've caught the journalist's attention and they kept on reading until the last part of your press release, most likely they want to know more about you. The boilerplate is exactly the place where they'll find any additional info about your company or about you. So make it fun, make it interesting. It works as your business card, and you want to present yourself as well. And then, step 6, the final step. Check, check, double check, triple check, check again. Is it newsworthy? Is the heading catchy? Is it objective, not promotional? And are there no spelling mistakes? If your answer to all those questions is yes, then you have a great chance that your press release will go viral. Just remember to send it to the right journalists and preferably at the right time. Curious how? Make sure to check the next video.