The purpose of a press release is to provide newsworthy information to the media about upcoming events, in the hope that you'll get free publicity. It's essential to provide this information in writing rather than verbally so as to minimise the risk of mistakes.

What information should you include in your press release? The most basic points (and you'd be surprised how often people forget to include them) are:

• Who, what, when, where, how much?
• How do people book to attend the event?
• What language is your event in?
• Why are you putting on this event, and why should anyone but your mother attend the event? In other words, what makes your story newsworthy? Think: topical/timely; politically/economically significant; first/last time ever in the world/Asia/Hong Kong; innovative product breakthrough; human interest; controversial; funny; sad; tragic; heart-warming; unusual; witty; award-winning; celebrity...
• Most importantly, give the name and contact number of a spokesperson, in case the journalist needs further information.

The way you present your information also counts. Here are some more simple guidelines that will help you get your press releases used by busy journalists:

• Use a format or layout that makes it as easy as possible for the journalists to extract the key information quickly and easily. For instance, you could use bold text for the key "Who, What, When, Where, Why, How Much, How to Buy a Ticket?" details.
• Present all that key information in the first one or two paragraphs.
• Preferably, your press release should be no more than one page long.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs - this makes the text easier to read.
• Type your press release - hand-written text can often be difficult to read, which can lead to mistakes.
• After the text that is intended for publication, print a horizontal line across the page. Anything below the line is for the information of the journalists only, and is not for publication. Most importantly here, give the name and contact numbers of someone the journalists can talk to for further information.
• Check the deadlines, especially for weekly or monthly publications or TV/radio shows, and develop your own media list that's appropriate to your organisation.

If you make journalists' jobs easier by providing all the information they need, well ahead of deadline, you'll dramatically increase your event's chances of receiving the publicity it deserves.

Kay Ross
Freelance Editor, Copywriter and Marketing Consultant