Creating a Press Release that Makes News - TCW Academy Course
Approximate time to complete course: 25 minutes
This course is ideal for:
- Communication professionals
- Media liaisons
There are many instances when your company will want to attract the attention of the news media. Perhaps you’ve launched a new product or service; or maybe you’ve been honored with an industry accommodation or reached a major milestone. On the other hand, perhaps you’re contending with a crisis that has attracted media attention and want to make sure that the press release you craft will deliver the message as intended and ensure the media tell your story accurately.
Whatever your purpose for engaging the media, there are a number of considerations, strategies, and pitfalls that you must be aware of prior to making contact with a press release to give you the best chance of your story being amplified by a variety of media outlets.
Planning a Press Release: This part of the course will cover several areas that help you understand when a press release should be sent and how to incorporate it into your larger communications strategy. Topics include:
- When to Send a Press Release
- Part of your Larger Communications Strategy
Crafting the Release: After completing this section of the course, you will be able to construct a press release that has the best chance of capturing the attention of the media. Topics include:
- Press Release Construct
- The Headline
- The Body
- The Lead
- Testimonial
- Contacts
Distributing the Release: This final section of the course will have you acquire the skills to construct an effective delivery process and respond to the subsequent media inquiries. Here you will focus entirely on distribution.
In this course, you will:
- Understand when a press release should be sent and how to incorporate it into your larger communications strategy;
- Be able to construct a press release that has the best chance of capturing the attention of the media;
- Have the skills to construct an effective delivery process and respond to the subsequent media inquiries.
Additional Resources
Who Is On My Organization’s Crisis Communications Team?
Your organization’s crisis communications team is possibly the most important collection of people who will navigate every emergency and crisis your organization experiences. These folks are not only the conduit to your critical stakeholders, often they are the gatekeepers and evaluators of risk and decisions. They serve as the organization’s central core and coordinate the decisions and actions of other staff.
A very large organization likely has a sizable communications team to fulfill the responsibilities of a crisis communications team. However, your organization may have a communications team of one or just a handful of employees.
The question you must consider is how do you create an effective crisis communications team with people who are not professional communicators?
Don’t do THIS with Reporters – 4 Don’ts for Media Relations
Some days, media relations is exhilarating, and some days it is quite a chore. Any seasoned media relations professional or senior management staff in an organization dreads the phone call or email from a reporter asking for comment on a story you would prefer they not do.
But the fact of the matter is they are likely not going away. You’re going to have to talk to them.
Here, we will share the four don’ts.
A Complaint Management System to Turn a Critic Into an Advocate
Every organization has their critics and must have a complaint management plan to prevent a critic from becoming a crisis.
Sometimes, criticism is warranted. But if we’re being honest, organizations don’t always receive complaints that are warranted, or even sane.
But whether or not we believe a complaint (or the complainer) to be reasonable and rational, we must come to an internal agreement in our organization on a complaint management system. Use these 10 keys to develop and implement an effective complaint management system to turn a critic into an advocate.
Communication is NOT My Job
Many professionals believe that communication should be left to the communicators – those hired for that role or who naturally excel in communication. You may be reading this because you have come to a similar conclusion and the headline caught your attention.
Communication is most definitely your job. It does not matter if you are a CEO, customer service representative, bus driver, budget analyst, or public relations manager – you are a communicator.
Reporters are Looking for a Sensational Story – Are You Providing One?
As outrage continues to accelerate in today’s society, media are constantly seeking the next sensational story to attract viewers and sell ads.
Though positive media stories serve to benefit your organization, sensational stories are about them – not you. They are about stirring controversy; latching on to social media trends; selling ads.
The best way to avoid being the centerpiece of a sensational story by the news media is to evaluate your organization and the ways your leadership and employees are engaging publicly.
10 Ways to Influence People
Dale Carnegie literally wrote the book on influence with, How to Win Friends and Influence People, originally published in 1936.
Rather than summarize the contents of his book, we will provide insights from lessons learned by decades of our own experiences. Of course, a quick cross-reference with Carnegie’s book finds several overlaps because much of his book aligns to our experiences.
Take the tips detailed here and find ways to integrate them into your work. Whether you are the CEO or an entry-level employee, the ability to influence people will serve you very well.
