A poorly written and improperly formatted press release is pretty much a silver medalist in the Useless Olympics, so if you’d like to take advantage of the benefits that sending them out can provide, then you need to know how to format press releases the right way.

Last week, I talked a little about 5 press release essentials that are…well, essential to writing press releases. Today, we’re going to look a little closer at the process of writing press releases by examining the correct format you should use to structure your missive. Depending on where you plan to send your press release and who you intend to have reading it, you may need to use different formats, but all press releases contain the same basic elements. Each element is necessary to the end product, and leaving one out can render the entire exercise pointless – after all, if you don’t care enough to learn how to submit the information correctly, why should a reporter or other media guy care about what you’re trying to talk about?

The Anatomy of a Basic Press Release

• “For immediate release” – Put this at the top of the page, either left justified and above the contact information, or right justified on the same line as the first line of your left justified contact info.
• Contact information – Your contact info goes underneath (or begins on the same line as) the “for immediate release” bit above, and regardless of where you decide to stick the “for immediate release,” you should keep this section left justified. Include the name of the person that handles any media inquiries, as well as his or her phone number and email address. You can also choose to include a snail mail address and a fax number, if you’d like. But don’t forget to provide at least ONE way to contact you.
• The headline – The headline is exactly what it sounds like. This should be presented in either bold type, all capital letters, or both, and should be centered on the page. Like any other headline, it’s designed to grab attention, so make sure it’s a good one.
• The slugline – Some people consider the slugline to be one in the same as the headline, so you can skip this part if you like, but keeping it in and using it in addition to your headline gives you an extra opportunity to grab your reader’s interest. Slug lines belong directly below the headline, left justified, and usually in italics. This should be a one sentence summary of the angle of your press release, so people know exactly what they’re going to read when they get to the actual body of the piece.
• Location and date – This marks the beginning of the body of the press release. Before you begin the actual writing, start the first paragraph with the location of the story (such as “WAIKIKAMUKAU, New Zealand”) and follow that up with the date.
• The lead – The lead is the first sentence of the actual body portion of the press release. It should contain the notorious 5 Ws (who, what, when, where, why) and set the stage for the rest of your release.
• The body – When you write the press release’s body, make sure that each thought gets its own paragraph. One thought/idea per paragraph. Keep it short and succinct, make sure you include all of the information you need to include about your news, and keep the sentence structure simple. You should also keep the hype and marketing speak out. The last paragraph can be a re-cap of everything you’ve said already.
• The close – Once the body is written, signal the end of the press release by placing a “###” or a “-30-” below the last paragraph and centered on the page.
• Optional reiteration of contact info – If you want, you can invite the media person to contact you if they need more information and put your contact info in again.

And that’s how a properly formatted press release should look. Even if you’re not the world’s best writer, making sure your formatting is correct will go a long way towards getting your press releases noticed.

Stay tuned for the next installment in this little series on press releases, because I’m going to talk about special formatting circumstances and some tips on the various methods for actually sending your releases out.