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"89 Ways to Write Powerful Press Releases"
Lesson #22: The "story-telling"
release
Today, we're starting Week 4, and
we'll concentrate on how to write press releases that announce
bigger news, encourage potential customers to visit your website or
call you, and entice journalists to contact you for an interview.
Today's lesson is devoted to story-telling.
Some of the most talented press
release writers have learned how to use their releases to tell a
story. In fact, their press releases sound exactly like stories that
you'd read in a newspaper. Good stories have a beginning, a middle
and an end. They have drama. And characters.
The release below was written by Valerie Wigton, director of public
relations for Badertscher Communications in Marion, Ohio. It's about
Amy Pencil, a student at TRECA Digital Academy, a small non-profit
public online school for Ohio
students in grades K-12.
Online education is a viable alternative for students who, for
whatever reason, don't "fit" the traditional brick-and-mortar school
model.
"Each year, the school holds a graduation ceremony, with students
meeting their teachers face-to-face for the very first time,"
Valerie says. "Rather than the traditional 'Students graduate from
TDA' news release, I worked with my client to identify students with
unique situations who were able to earn their high school diploma in
an online environment."
Valerie sent two different press releases, each featuring a
different student from the 2006 graduating class, to editors of two
major metro newspapers, the Springfield News Sun and the Dayton
Daily News. That was a smart move.
Both newspapers did their own interviews, printed stories at the top
of the front page, and ran the entire story in their online
versions. If Valerie had written only one version of the press
release, both newspapers probably would have ended up with the same
story and wouldn't have been pleased.
At the end of the release, Valerie also included a list of people,
complete with contact information, who the reporter could call to
expand the story. I've highlighted it for you in yellow.
This press release sounds like a newspaper story because it has a
beginning, a middle and an end. It shows the conflict between Amy
and her disease and explains how she reached her ultimate goal--to
graduate on time.
Valerie skipped all the cumbersome medical terminology that would
have bogged down the story. Instead, she used interesting details
about Amy's life, punchy quotes from Amy and a school administrator,
and a happy ending--Amy's hopes of becoming a child psychologist and
working with kids who have had childhood diseases.
Isn't this a lot better than a boring press release that could have
said "Treca Digital Academy today announces the graduation of..."?
By the way, Valerie is a former
newspaper reporter. I'm not surprised.
Here's the release:
(Contact information follows at end of article)
Springfield TDA Student Has
‘Determination’ in Her Blood
MARION, OH (05-11-06) -- Amy Pencil has determination in her blood.
Despite all odds, the high school senior from Springfield is
determined to graduate in June.
It won’t be with her classmates at Shawnee High School, but with her
"virtual" classmates at TRECA Digital Academy.
An avid volleyball and basketball player, Amy was diagnosed in 2002
with a blood disorder--phorasic outlet syndrome complicated by
antibody phospholipid syndrome--after collapsing on the gym floor.
Doctors found a blood clot in her shoulder. More were discovered.
Complications followed.
Last year, Amy spent 180 days in Columbus Children’s Hospital.
Yet not once has her determination to graduate "on time" faltered.
That’s because she discovered TDA, Ohio’s only non-profit online
public school, serving K-12 students with unique education
situations like Amy’s.
"I just couldn’t keep up with my work at Shawnee," explained Amy
after recently (May 11) returning home from a weeklong stay at
Children’s Intensive Care Unit. "And I didn’t want to be
home-schooled or taught by my parents. TDA has been the perfect fit
for me and my family."
TDA allows students to learn at their own pace via computer at home.
"So if I feel really good I can get a lot done and move ahead," Amy
explained. "Or if I’m having a crummy day or I’m in the hospital, I
can take a break."
Amy is finalizing online school work in chemistry, advanced math,
English 4, U.S. Government, and geography in anticipation of TDA’s
June 4 commencement ceremonies. "My family has really been helpful
in keeping me motivated," says Amy. "I’m going to do everything I
can to graduate on time."
TDA’s Damon Osborne, dean of academic education, has been working
closely to help Amy reach her goal. "We’re here to provide that
flexibility for families with students like Amy," he explained.
"That’s why we exist."
Amy plans to use TDA’s online Elluminate© curriculum support rooms
to finish her senior year. With Elluminate©, she can literally raise
her hand, turn up her microphone, and talk "live" to her teachers,
verbally communicating homework assignments. Two more blood clots
prevent her from using a keyboard, the
traditional mode of completing online lessons at TDA.
Well spoken and "very in touch" with her medical disorder, Amy was
recently selected to represent Children’s Hospital at the statewide
"Blood Clots Seminar" (May 13). She’ll join speakers from the
National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia, and physicians
from Ohio State University’s Thrombosis Program and the
Hemostasis/Thrombosis Center at Columbus Children’s Hospital to
discuss how her life has changed.
"I went from being a normal, healthy teenager--a 90% free-throw
shooter, in fact, to having a blood clot in my jugular vein, the
scariest thing yet," notes Amy, who receives daily injections of
clot-busting medicine in her stomach. "But thanks to TDA, I’ve been
able to stay in school. That’s very important to me because I want
to start college this Fall."
Amy must first undergo yet another surgery to remove two more clots
discovered in her arm and shoulder. "After that, I’ll start college
at Clark State, then I hope to transfer to Ohio State," says a
determined Amy. "That’s my dream."
Her career aspiration? "I want to be a child psychologist and work
with kids who have had childhood diseases. That would be amazing."
###
The following individuals
have given consent to be contacted to
pursue this story:
Amy Pencil, age 18, senior, TRECA Digital Academy
Daughter of Rhonda and Ricky Pencil
1341 Buck Creek Lane, Springfield OH
(937)324-3054 (home)
(937)408-4200 (cell - Rhonda Pencil)
Damon Osborne, Dean of Academic Education
TRECA Digital Academy
1-888-828-4798, ext. 252
www.tdaonline.org
Linda Casto, Social Worker
Kay Monda, Thrombophilia Nurse Coordinator
Children’s Hospital
Hematology Department
(614)722-3250, ext. 4
Elizabeth Varga, Certified Genetic Counselor
OSU Department of Internal Medicine
Board Member, National Alliance for Thrombosis and Thrombophilia
(614)293-2456
Information submitted by:
Valerie Wigton,
Public Relations Director
Badertscher Communications/in partnership with TDA
137 S. Prospect St., Marion, OH
(740)383-2633
vwigton@badcomm.com
###
Opportunity #22:
Fund-raising kick-off
Raising funds for a worthy cause? Write a press release. Explain the
benefits of contributing. And include a call to action telling
people what to do if they can't donate but want to volunteer their
time.
Fund-raising projects can get a real
boost if you can convince a newspaper to support the project by
writing an editorial about it.
"Special Report #33: How to Win the Support & Respect of Newspaper
Editorial Boards" explains how to approach an editorial board
about your cause or issue, present a convincing case, ask for their
support, and how to follow up once you get it.
Tomorrow: Top 10 lists
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