 Let's say you have a message that you would like to get out to the public and reach a broad audience as you can But you don't happen to own a major media platform or really have the skills to To spread a message in that way. What can you do? Well, you can try and make use of the the media outlets that do exist and and do so by writing a Release that will hopefully generate some interest and get them to run the story for you. So in this video I just want to talk briefly about Writing press releases and give you some basic Framework for what is involved and what should be included and and not included in these types of writings for media And in terms of writing press releases, so Let's start at the beginning and talk about the basics first of all You have to make sure that what you're sharing is worthwhile If they make it worthwhile for the media organization again, you can go back and review some previous videos We talked about this, but the media is their objective is to make money and they do that by reaching audiences So that they can sell ads and do things like that. So They want to know is this worthwhile for our audience? Does this matter to our audience? Why does this matter? Why do people need to know this or why should they need this information? Why should they have this information? And then why should that bump other potential stories? Why would that be better than other things that they could be running on their their platform instead? So we have to figure out is this worthwhile and make sure that when we're sharing Information and a press release that it is for something worthwhile and that the media is going to see it as worthwhile So whatever you're doing make sure that it's worthwhile for them and for their audiences Next you really need to know your audience and really your audience is Plural that's why there's an ass at the end of that. So there are a couple different audiences here first of all Well, we think about the the public as our audience But the first audience that we need to reach is the media themselves We need to get through that the media are what we call gatekeepers of information They're the ones who decide what goes on air or doesn't what gets printed in their newspaper magazine or on their website Or doesn't but they're the gatekeepers of this information. They decide what the public Knows about as the old saying goes They don't necessarily tell them tell us what to think but they tell us what to think about and they do that through this gatekeeping function So our first audience really is the media and that involved not only what we're writing about and that we're writing about something worthwhile But that we're doing so in a way that's going to make it easier for them To publish and be involved in and develop those relationships with the media contacts because the media is ultimately people That are running that so they are the first audience because they are the gatekeepers of this information So we need to do what we came to make it Appealing for them to make sure it meets those those news values and that it's structured in the right way It's going to make their jobs easier and so forth So our first audience is the media themselves that the people, you know Involved in making those decisions as to what gets published and what doesn't Then our next audience is the actual public right and so we need to remember again What's worthwhile to the public we need to know who our audience is So there's what we want to say and what they're interested in and in between there's somewhere hopefully there's some crossover and relevance That what we have to say is something that they're going to care about and be interested in So we have to know our audience and know how to reach them and what's going to be Hopefully important to them as much as possible Then I kind of have alluded to this a couple times that we need to make it easy for the outlets They have a lot of information coming in they have a lot of work to do a lot of things going on Just like we all do So when we send them a release or we send them information We want to make sure that it's that it's not only worthwhile But it's structured in the right way and just whatever we can do to make it easy for them to to get the information that they need To to put that story together and to run with it, right? Ideally, it's going to be written. Well, it's going to be written in the proper format. It's going to be relevant It's going to have all those keywords and things that's just going to make their job easier the easier It is for them to to publish or produce that story the more likely they are to do it Just like any of us. They don't want extra work if they can help it So whatever we can do to make it easier for them will be fantastic and will help us get our story out there One of the things we can do along those lines is use the inverted pyramid Structure for media writing all other video on that that you can check out But we should use that inverted pyramid structure where we we start with the lead and this I mean we should be writing in this format with the lead and then followed by the body and then finally the tail Because that's how most media writing Happens that's that's the structure that most media let's use it's going to be familiar to them It's going to help them organize the story even if they make some changes or whatever It's going to be in the proper order for them to find what they need to find and so we ought to be writing using the inverted pyramid structure Okay, so let's take a look real quick at a sample. I'm just generic press release Okay, this is just a you know, there's no real information in it So this is just a sample release So let's identify a couple of things here that are important as we're putting together a release like this First of all it ought to be identified as a press release not just a memo I mean don't just let people think it's an email or a memo or whatever identified specifically as a press Release so that they know what the function of that document again is again make it as easy as possible for them Identify it very easily very quickly as a press release so they know exactly where to file it and what to do with it You also want to make it easy for them by putting contact information at the top If there's something going on here if they need to follow up or whatever have that information readily available Let them know that contact information. You want to put a date on the release as far as when you're sending it to them That's important to know when they got it so they know if this is current or whatever So be sure you have the release date itself as in the date. You're sending it to them That's listed on there You also want to clarify when this information can be released to the public oftentimes organizations will send Press release and say this is for publication on on or after this date Which may be a week or two down on so they're sending it out early to give people a chance to follow up on it and put Together their information or whatever if it's for immediate release, that's fine You can you can indicate that but if it's for a little later release You need to say that very clearly whatever it is again make their job easier by putting that very Plainly in the in the release. What's the date of release for this information to the public? Okay, and we need a headline talking about headlines in a different video as well But you want it you want to have a clear Concise headline not more than six or seven words that really Summarizes the entire thing in just a few words. It's focus on keywords focus on conciseness and clarity there in the headline Then the rest of this information Really, we do want to focus on the inverted pyramid when he's the inverted pyramid for this Focusing on the lead in the body than the tail and in doing so we're gonna start with the most critical information in that opening paragraph Who what one where why how the most critical information goes in that lead paragraph the opening paragraph So be sure you have all the really critical pertinent details right up front If they only have X amount of space or X amount of time to talk about this This is what they should focus on make sure all of that information is in the lead Then after that you can continue to provide Background you can provide quotes and statistics and other items that can be used to offer context and fill in that story and Provide a more robust. Sorry a more robust Information for that story so you can you can provide all of that as well Then you want to give a background on the project and on the organization that is specific And relevant to the purpose of that release so not just general information about the organization that's gonna come but Specifically what did people need to know about the background of this project or this organization if you have any of that You can add that paragraph then you do want to add a boiler plate boiler plate organizational paragraph Most organizations already have this which just the tag at the end of it that says this company is this was established And whatever gives this some really basic Foundational details about the organization itself. So again boiler plate meaning it's just the same every time you have one of these things And then it is courteous to add I think An additional tag at the end that says for more information Contact this person that this at this phone number or email or whatever so you can add that on at the end Just as a courtesy you've already got the contact information at the top But you can also add it there just so it's really clear for that immediate organization to know where they can Follow up and how they can get more information if they need it Okay, so as you can see when we write press releases, this is really about Understanding how the system works and how everybody has a role And so we need to structure our releases in a way that makes it easier for the people on the other end Who are following up on this with the media in their organization make it as easy as possible for them That's gonna give us the greatest odds of having that release picked up and used as a story when they know that It's relevant to their audience and gonna be interesting to them And they know that it's structured well and going to be easy for them to kind of put together Those are things that are gonna make it more likely for our release to be actually used then If you have questions about news releases or anything else, please feel free to email me Otherwise, I hope this has been informative for you to understand just the basic structure and foundational elements of a press release so that we have the greatest likelihood of Getting a release used when we send it to media outlets