Press Release Writing for Beginners | 5W1H to Draft, Send, and Track Coverage

Marketing & Sales

Press Release Writing for Beginners | 5W1H to Draft, Send, and Track Coverage

This beginner-friendly template helps a first-time PR contact at a small business or startup use 5W1H to find the story and write, send, and track their first press release. Across four boards, you use the 5W1H framework to pin down the news on the first page, draft the headline, lead, body, and company details on the second, shortlist outlets to contact on the third, and follow the distribution flow while logging interview prep and coverage on the fourth. The task board has four columns, preparing, draft under review, sent, and coverage confirmed, with four parent tasks matching the four boards, each split into three subtasks. It also walks you through what counts as news, what to put in the first 2-3 lines, and how to prepare for reporter questions before you publish.

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press release PR for beginners 5W1H media relations small business PR
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1. The Writing Order (3 steps) 3. What's New (candidate reasons it's... 4. What You Can Say With Numbers 5. The Local Connection 6. The One-Page Release Skeleton (wri... 7. Draft Table (turn the 4 parts of 6... 8. Photos to Include 9. Charts or Tables 10. Contact Info 11. Outlets to Reach (think from who ... 12. Pick Who to Contact First (place ... Close readers x low odds Close readers x high odds Distant readers x low odds Distant readers x high odds 13. The Distribution Flow (work throu... 14. Likely Questions 15. Who Answers 16. Materials to Prepare 17. Coverage Log (publish only this p... Press Release Wri... How to use (4 pag... The news angle an... Decisions, owners... Cautions and thin... Candidates, insig... 1/4 Find Your News Angle Ctrl+F / ⌘F : 2/4... → 2/4 2/4 Build the Release... ↙ 3/4 News angleSay what you're announcing in one sentence.Fill in the 5W1H (2.) and find your reasons it's news (3.-5.). Release draftTurn it into a one-page release.Write the headline, lead, body, and company info in order (page 2). Outlets and distributionPick where to send it.Choose outlets (page 3), then go from sending to logging coverage (page 4). 2. Write the News... The news you're announcing What e.g. Launching a new baked treat made with local vegetables Why e.g. Want to put oddly shaped vegetables that go unsold to good use Who e.g. An 8-person town bakery, teamed up with 3 local farms When e.g. Announcing it to match the launch date. Announcement date: ____ (don't put this on the board you make … Where e.g. Sold at the main store and on our own online shop How e.g. Dough kneaded with the vegetables, baked slowly at low heat e.g. First baked treat using local vegetables at our shop e.g. The difference from past products is bringing out the vegetables' sweetness Confirm the scope you can claim "first" in (at our shop or in town) before writing it e.g. Plan to use about 200kg of vegetables a month that used to go unsold e.g. 24 of 30 taste-testers said they'd buy it again Only write numbers you can explain where they came from e.g. Sourced directly from 3 local farms e.g. Also sold at the town's direct-sales stand Note in one line how local people or groups are involved Headlinee.g. Words to include: "town bakery", "local vegetables", "baked treat", "launch"Pick 3-4 words that capture what happened Lead (first 2-3 lines)e.g. Who = us and 3 local farms, What = a vegetable baked treat, Where = main store and online shopPick 3 key points from the 5W1H in 2. for the lead Bodye.g. Write in order: the backstory, the product's features, the farmers' voice, and where it's soldLead with the most important point Company info and contacte.g. Company name, location, business descriptionAdd the contact and method you decided in 10. What to write Example What to check Headline One sentence of about 30 words using the words you picked in 6. e.g. Town bakery launches baked treat made with local vegetables Only use "first in the country" or "No. 1" when you can back it up Lead Turn the key points from 6. into 2-3 sentences e.g. We've teamed up with 3 local farms to launch a new baked treat Can someone grasp the content from the lead alone? Body Backstory, features, voices of those involved, what's next e.g. 24 of 30 taste-testers said they'd buy it again Can you explain where the numbers come from? Any claims bigger than the facts? Company info Company overview and the contact from 10. e.g. Company name, location, business description Did you add the contact and method from 10. at the end? e.g. A photo with the baked treat next to the vegetables used e.g. A photo of the farmer and the shop owner together in the field Confirm with anyone shown whether it's OK to use the photo, before anything else Prepare one landscape and one portrait photo e.g. A table of how much vegetable is used, by month e.g. A list of products (name, quantity) Make sure it doesn't contradict the numbers in the body Keep each chart to one message Contact: ____ e.g. Include both a phone number and an email address e.g. Note the hours you're available for interviews Decide who answers instead when the contact is off 3/4 Choose Your Outlets → 4/4 4/4 Send It and Log C... Who reads it Matching angle How to contact Trade press e.g. People working in confectionery or food e.g. A new use for vegetables that used to go unsold e.g. Email the editorial desk's contact point Local newspaper e.g. People who live in or near the town e.g. The local farm and shop teaming up e.g. Call the local beat reporter first, then send it Web news e.g. People who like food topics e.g. The new product's look and taste e.g. Submit through the site's news tip form TV or radio e.g. People who watch the local evening show e.g. A topic that works visually: the farm and the shop e.g. Send to the show's news tip contact Specialty magazine e.g. Readers who enjoy baking e.g. The method of kneading vegetables into the dough e.g. Magazines have early deadlines, so send to the editors early 縦軸: Reader closen... Rework the angle and try again. e.g. Send the specialty magazine a version centered on the vegetable-kneading method Contact first. e.g. The local newspaper. Call the beat reporter before the announcement date Skip this time. e.g. Trade press. Revisit for the next piece of news Contact second. e.g. Web news. Send with the photos from 8. In-house checkConfirm the draft with your reviewer.Keep the board limited-access, and don't put the pre-send draft or announcement date on a public board. SendSend the release on the announcement date.Use the contact method decided in 11., and also post it on your own site. Notify the reporterLet them know you sent it.e.g. Follow up with a short call or email by the next day. Don't push more than once. Media responseAnswer what you're asked.The person decided in 14.-16. answers, based on the prep. Log coverageKeep a record of what ran.Write it in the table in 17., and publish only this post-coverage log on a separate board, embedded in your internal portal. e.g. Why use vegetables that used to go unsold? e.g. How many can you make a day? Write down the hard questions too, ahead of time e.g. The shop owner answers product questions e.g. The PR contact answers number questions Contact: ____ e.g. The original files for the photos in 8. e.g. A write-up introducing the partner farms e.g. Samples for tasting Outlet Date Content Response #1 e.g. Local newspaper e.g. The morning after launch e.g. Featured the farm and shop partnership e.g. More customers came in the following week after reading it #2 e.g. Web news Date: ____ e.g. Featured with product photos e.g. More orders on the online shop #3 Outlet: ____ Date: ____ Content: ____ Response: ____ → 2/4 Build the Release... ↙ 3/4 Choose Your Outlets → 4/4 Send It and Log C...
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Task board contents

Preparing 16 items

Find the news angle
Draft the release
Choose your outlet
Send and log results
Confirm the order
Fill in the 5W1H
List news reasons
Split into 4 parts
Write draft text
Pick the materials
List the outlets
Plot outlets on grid
Pick first contact
Confirm and send
Prep for interviews
Log the coverage

Draft under review 0 items

Sent 0 items

Coverage confirmed 0 items

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