Locked lesson.
About this lesson
The formatting of a press release needs to convey professionalism and follow industry standards in order for it not to be dismissed outright.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s related exercise files.
Write Like a Pro – Formatting Tips.docx60.7 KB Write Like a Pro – Formatting Tips - Solution.docx
60.7 KB
Quick reference
Write Like a Pro – Formatting Tips
The formatting of a press release needs to convey professionalism in order for it not to be dismissed outright.
When to use
The suggestions below are useful to appropriately format a press release.
Instructions
- The Logo/Letterhead: placed at top of your press release, it conveys the source of the message with immediacy, add credibility, and give a professional look to your company.
- The Contact Information: normally placed on the top left hand-side of the press release, it completes it and should be accurate. The person who will be handling further queries should be someone knowledgeable, reliable and available.
- Time of Release: either “For immediate release” or “Hold until…” should be indicated above the headline of the press release.
- Dateline: after the headline and the subhead, open the press release with your location followed by the date.
- Clues for readers: if a press release is over one page in length, type #more# at the bottom of the first page to indicate that the text continues on the next page. At the end of the press release, type Ends or ### to signal to the reader that the text finishes there.
- Style: Never write your opinions in a press release. Only write in the third person to keep your press release professional and objective.
- Formatting: Your press release should be written in a typical writing font, double spaced, and include page numbers.
- 00:05 Now, though formatting is thought of as quite the robotic element,
- 00:09 it's certainly part of writing like a pro,
- 00:12 because that's what is going to give the release that professional appearance.
- 00:17 A couple of tips to work through now, the logo and the letterhead.
- 00:22 We're gonna incorporate the logo or
- 00:24 the letterhead as best we can at the top of the press release.
- 00:28 And this will convey the source of the message with immediacy and
- 00:32 it will add credibility.
- 00:34 And also give us that professional look that the company aims for.
- 00:39 Contact information is really what's required for the press release to be
- 00:43 complete, because this would be the next step that people will take.
- 00:48 The next step would be to pick up the phone and reach out to a knowledgable
- 00:52 person in the company, or to visit the website and perhaps place an order.
- 00:57 So this information is normally placed on the top left-hand
- 01:00 side of the press release it's gonna be clearly visible to all.
- 01:04 Now if you look at the time and
- 01:06 the dateline, that's gonna be above the headline of the press release.
- 01:11 And we need to indicate to journalists and editors when should this be released.
- 01:16 If it should be released immediately,
- 01:18 you can just state boldly that this is for immediate release.
- 01:22 If you need it to be released on a specific date,
- 01:25 then you can rather just say hold until, and then specify the exact date.
- 01:31 After the headline and the subhead, open the press release with your location.
- 01:36 And it should be followed by a date.
- 01:39 So the dateline then is gonna help readers to understand where and
- 01:43 when the news will be relevant.
- 01:46 We also need to leave some clues for the readers with formatting.
- 01:50 So if a press release is over one page,
- 01:52 then typically you will type a hash and then, more followed by another hash.
- 01:58 And this is preceded and followed by a hash at the bottom of the first
- 02:03 page to indicate that the text will continue on the next page.
- 02:07 So at the end, then, of the press release we're going to type end, or
- 02:12 we can do three hashes to signal the reader that the text will finish here.
- 02:18 So never write your opinions in the press release, remember that.
- 02:22 Only write in the third person,
- 02:24 because this will keep the release rather professional and objective.
- 02:28 Your press release should be written in a typical writing format, and
- 02:33 we're going to double space it as well.
- 02:35 Also remember to include page numbers at all times.
Lesson notes are only available for subscribers.