Press releases are very useful tools! Here’s how to write one specifically for an upcoming event. The basic principles, however, apply to the writing of any press release.
Step 1 – Identify Your Hook
Remember that a press release is just that: information you are releasing to the media in the hope that your story will be published and read by a large number of people. Oftentimes, a press release that is posted online will stay online, for people to read long after the event has occurred.
So to make your story compelling to the media, you need to identify an angle of your event that people want to read. For example, a fundraising auction may or may not be of interest to the general public. What is it about your particular auction that is valuable to readers? Is the money going to a worthy cause? Is your auctioneer going to be a famous guy with great bidding skills, an entertainment in itself? Will there be a great selection of weekend vacation homes?
Step 2: Essential Information
Once you’ve figured out your “hook,” you can write down the essentials: who the release is written for or about, contact information, when it’s okay to post the information, and what the title and date are.
For example:
For: Edgeport Community Hospital, 174 Van Dyne Street, Edgeport, Connecticut, 03345
Contact: Marjory Crafter, (203) 489-1834
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[TITLE] Hospital auction offers chance to bid on a night in a haunted mansion
[LOCATION] Edgeport, Conn., April 13, 2010 –
Note that your title is the first place to mention your hook. The “annual hospital auction” just won’t work. In the case above, while there may be plenty of other items on sale, the haunted mansion is probably the most exciting possibility, and readers will most likely want to know more and read on.
Step 3: The meat of the launch
Make your opening statement a direct follow-up to your headline. In the example we’re talking about, for example, you might start with “Edgeport Hospital’s annual auction offers a nightly tour of Sloane Manor and the ghosts of it.” Then build on this idea with your most interesting information about the mansion and the auction.
In an additional paragraph or two, provide more information that is less essential but still relevant, such as who the supplier is, how long the hospital has been holding an auction, what the money goes to, how much of the others are the items, whether the auction is formal or informal, etc.
Conclude with everything people need to know about how to participate in the auction, including how to register or purchase tickets, ticket prices, phone numbers, email addresses or Internet links, when and where the event will take place, and any another thing that people should know in advance. .
Follow these steps and your press release will attract your media contacts and get the publicity you need for your event.
Copyright (c) 2011 Jane Sherwin. You may reprint this entire article and must include copyright information and the following statement: “Jane Sherwin is a writer who helps hospitals and other healthcare facilities communicate her strengths and connect with her readers.” .
