Release the presses!

By Richard Peters

In a world of information saturation, it’s hard to get your voice heard. When a company has a story to tell, it must craft a message that will make as many of the right people as possible sit up and take notice. And a well-worded press release is just the ticket: brief, punchy, yet informative and on brand.

As translators specialising in corporate communications, we’re very familiar with the press release format – and we know how to avoid some cross-cultural pitfalls. Like any good piece of prose, a press release should be written with a specific target audience in mind; that could be journalists specialised in a certain industry, or it might be the general public. And a press release has to have a beginning, a middle, and an end, each of which can be broken down further. Let’s consider the main elements in turn:

 

The headline

A good headline is crisp, concise, and grabs attention with a clear statement of the main message. It needs to be compelling and informative; readers should come away having learned something – even if they don’t look at the rest of the release.

 

The subheading

This mini-text builds on the headline with additional context or detail. It should be at most a couple of sentences long. While the headline is all about hooking readers, the subheading should tease the release’s content and persuade readers not to look away.

 

The dateline

Every press release needs a date and a location for the news. Typically, the first paragraph of the main body text will begin with a city and date – e.g., “Munich, Germany, 29 February 2028” – to set the scene for the story that’s about to unfold.

 

The introduction

The lead paragraph of a press release provides a summary of all the key details. It should answer the (admittedly misleadingly named) “five Ws” – meaning the six questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how.

 

The body

This is where to put the details that flesh out and support the staccato information provided in earlier sections: quotes, fuller descriptions, and background information. The flow needs to be clear and logical, and ideally organized into multiple paragraphs.

A small amount of wordplay might be welcome, depending on the brand identity, but bear in mind that it may be difficult to translate. In any event, press copy should avoid long, complex sentences and low-frequency vocabulary. Keep things factual; give overly sensationalist or emotive adjectives a wide berth.

Sentence structure is also a consideration, especially in a multilingual context. A company making a claim in English-language copy will often start with an active statement – “We make the best mousetraps” – and then provide information to back the claim up (“because we use quality springs”). In German-language copy, a company will usually start with a supporting fact or two before topping these off with the claim itself: “Thanks to quality springs, our mousetraps are market leaders.”

 

The quotes

To lend credence to what the press release is saying, include quotes from company execs, stakeholders, or experts. Be sure to attribute them by adding the speaker’s full name and job title.

Conventions for dealing with honorifics differ between countries. In German press releases, it’s normal to write out the speaker’s full name and all honorifics – e.g. Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Erna Schmidt – each time the person’s name is mentioned. Given how unwieldy this can be, authors often opt to refer to the speaker using a descriptive term instead: “the professor”, “the 42-year-old”, “the biology expert”.

If, however, you’re writing for an English-speaking audience, include only the highest-ranking of any honorifics the speaker is entitled to, and only on the first mention of the name; subsequent quotes from the same person need only give their surname. Consequently, descriptive alternatives are much less common in English-language press releases.

One last thought on titles: For British readers, following the first mention, our fictitious professor would be referred to as “Prof. Schmidt”; in American usage, this would seem excessive, and she would be called simply “Dr. Schmidt”.

 

The boilerplate

A brief “About” section at the end is a chance to give readers general information about the organization issuing the press release; for instance, a company’s mission and history or other details. This standard paragraph features in all an organization’s press releases.

 

The contact information

A press release is rounded off with the contact details of the contact person for media enquiries: their name, phone number, e-mail address, and perhaps links to the company’s website or social media channels.

 

The call to action

Optionally, online press releases can include a button with a link to a website, a report for readers to download, or a registration page for an event.

 

When drafting a press release, it’s worth bearing in mind that journalists might want to copy and paste individual paragraphs of the release into their story, so it’s best to ensure that each paragraph can stand on its own. If faced with having to spend time reworking an excerpt to make it coherent, a journalist will probably just leave it out altogether – defeating the object of the release, which is to get people talking about its content.

Let’s not forget that press releases can have different layouts – plain text, text and photos, or a more thoroughly designed appearance with info boxes, pull-out quotes, etc. – and this may impact the text. Do pull-out quotes need to be verbatim, or do they need to be shortened to fit the space allotted to them? How long should the captions be under graphics or charts?

And my favourite part of a press release to translate is … the dateline! No, don’t worry, I’m just kidding. I have to admit I enjoy the challenge of coming up with a blockbusting headline that’s every bit as compelling as the one in the source text – or ideally even better! I get the same thrill when I’m working on an advertising campaign: carefully choosing words that will throw a spotlight on a product or service is a task that brings me joy.