"Stick to the facts, ma'am," worked for Joe Friday and Dragnet 40 years ago. It's just as applicable to writing press releases today (and then). What's more, for strategic business reasons, press releases will go out at best only several times a year. They therefore need to pack as much of a wallop when they hit the desk of the editor at the receiving end as possible. Press releases are a marketing tool. A lot rides on them. They can backfire. The jury is still out on Mark Twain's notion of 100 years ago that irritating the customer doesn't matter in advertising as much as the customer remembering the company name.

Getting Started with Writing Press Releases

Because the format of press releases is so standardized, all you really need to concern yourself with in writing press releases is saying what you have to say in three or four paragraphs. The lead line--always in all caps--is "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE." This is followed, two lines down, with the headline, formatted with initial caps only. Writing finesse comes into play here, because the headline is the only part you can have any confidence that the media point person will read. It's your opportunity to grab and keep your audience.

The headline, in turn, is followed by the body of the press release, the content, which should run about 350 to 400 words. The body leads off with the city, state, and date, which are run into the first line. The concluding paragraph consists of at most a couple sentences that serve as a company or organization backgrounder. The contact information that follows is critical. Miss any of these and you cook your goose.

A good sense of what's newsworthy--an IPO, a merger, allegations of corruption, award contracts, new products, or CEO handover--is clearly a critical ingredient to writing press releases. Just as important is how concise, compelling, and factually informative a release is. Do not forget grammar, punctuation, and spelling. If you need help with these aspects, you might look for a simple tip sheet online.