Executives are delirious over their announcements
Have you noticed how excited corporate spokespeople are these days? And if not excited, how pleased, proud and delighted they are?… Read the full article
quotes
How to write good press release quotes
Secrets for successful sound bites
Here’s what passes for a sound bite in a news release these days:
“The auto-tech sector as a whole will continue to grow over the next few years as more stakeholders seek out efficient, platform-based auto finance options, and DriverUp is uniquely positioned to lead this charge.”
Said nobody ever.… Read the full article
How to write great quotes in news articles
Make your sound bite sound like a real person is talking
A frustrated PR pro in one of my workshops said:
“Most quotes in press releases sound like the teacher in Charlie Brown cartoons: ‘Wah wah wah wah.’”
Indeed.… Read the full article
How to write a quote that sounds human
Add passion, personality to your sound bites
Add personality to your quotes through passion, humanity and colloquialisms.
Make it personal.
When two-thirds of Californians failed every question on a fast food nutrition quiz, the California Center for Public Health Advocacy distributed a release including this sound bite.… Read the full article
Reporters hate press release quotes
They snooze, you lose
What’s the least important element in a release — less important even than the dateline or the boilerplate?
Quotes, say one in four reporters surveyed in a study by Greentarget.… Read the full article
When to paraphrase vs. quote
Put a quota on quotes
You’ve read the kvetching about overdoing corporate quotes:
“Sprinkling quotes is one thing. Hosing them on is another.”
— John B.
… Read the full articleThumbs up
Get The Peer Principle of Persuasion into your next campaign
“What others say about you and your product, service, or business is at least 1,000 times more convincing than what you say, even if you are 2,000 times more eloquent.”
— Dan Kennedy, author of No B.S.
… Read the full articleList, rhyme and twist
Craft a sassy sound bite
When the Federal Trade Commission needed to explain why the agency has decided not to develop a do-not-spam registry — officials feared that spammers would target people on the list — a spokesperson said:
“You’ll be spammed if we do — and spammed if we don’t.”
You’ve got to love that sound bite!… Read the full article
Write it like Winston
Make Churchill your muse
Edward R. Murrow said of Winston Churchill: “He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”
He rallied the British, defied the Nazis and inspired the United States to fight.… Read the full article
Why callouts?
They attract attention, make messages memorable
Callouts (aka breakout quotes, pullout quotes or pull quotes) are “the print equivalent of a sound bite,” according to the authors of The Newsletter Editor’s Desk Book.… Read the full article