How to Write a Press Release Template

This article deals with information about how to write a press release. Information pertaining to different components of a press release are presented in the write-up.
Writing a press release is an interesting as well as challenging activity. One has to present before the readers a news or information about an entity (company, organization, etc.) in a manner that sounds appealing and also provides hard facts.

Writing a Press Release
Nowadays, the press releases are mostly distributed on the Internet. With the trend shifting towards online reading, newspapers around the world are finding it hard to survive. It is therefore, necessary to adapt the format of press releases according to the Internet. The knowledge of how to write a press release template would help generate interesting content and at the same time provide news to the readers.

Basically a news article in nature, press release is issued with an intention of providing the media and public with information about a company, organization, etc. The information includes product announcements, new sales, earning reports, scheduled events, legal updates, product enhancements, recruitment, political campaigns, government legislation, etc. A press release should not be written/presented like an advertisement. If the readers find that one is trying to market something, their interest in reading would lower. The basic components of a press release are the release time, headline, summary, dateline, press release body, boilerplate, call to action, contact information and closing mark. The closing mark is represented in the forms such as '###' or '-30-'.

Template
Given below is a press release template which provides the readers with a rough idea about how to start writing a press release.

Press Release Template
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Title of the Press Release in Bold Letters

This section contains a short summary of the following press release write-up in 2-4 sentences. These sentences are important because they appear on homepage of a website below the title.(Summary)

City, State - Date followed by the first paragraph of the press release. The first paragraph should answer basic questions such as who, why, when, where, how, etc.(First Paragraph)

Information in the first paragraph is expanded and presented in a detailed manner in the second paragraph. Minor details and facts related to the main news are included in the content of this paragraph.(Second Paragraph)

The first two paragraphs should be followed by short paragraphs. These paragraphs provide information on various aspects of the company.

In this section, a boilerplate should be included. Content presented in this section describes the company in a short and compact manner. To make the information appear credible, statistical data should be presented.(Brief Information about Company)

Contact Information
Name of the Person
Company Name
Email Address
City/State/Zip code (Country)
Telephone No
Website URL

Points to Remember
The tips mentioned below helps in making the press release readable and also credible.
  • The first and foremost thing to consider is, that content presented in the press release should be newsworthy.
  • Providing the readers with important facts in the beginning is important. No matter how elaborate the write-up is, the readers should not be kept waiting too long for hard facts.
  • The first 10 words of the write-up are most important from the point of attracting readers' attention.
  • Answering the questions of the types, who, when and how in the beginning itself, presents clear picture about the content to the readers.
The above article presents details about how to write a press release. It would equip the readers with necessary information about writing press releases.
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Last Updated: 9/22/2011
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