Questions to Ask for a Press Release
These are questions to ask for a press release interview: the half hour in which whoever is writing the release sits down with the founder, executive or project lead who knows the story. They are grouped in the order that conversation tends to run, from the news itself and the figures behind it, through the people it touches and the quote, to timing, limits and sign-off. Anything that can be checked on paper, such as spellings, prices and dates, can go by email first, so the meeting is spent on the news and on a quote that sounds like a person.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
The news
What exactly are we announcing, in one sentence?
Why ask it
If the person you are interviewing cannot say it in a sentence, the release is not ready to be written, and it is better to find that out here than in the third draft. Write their sentence down word for word. It will not be your headline, but your headline has to say the same thing.
Why is this being announced now?
Why ask it
A date needs a reason: the product ships, the contract was signed, the season opens, the report is finished. That reason usually belongs in the first paragraph. If the only answer is 'we have been meaning to', ask what would be lost by waiting a month, because a reporter will wonder the same.
Why would someone outside the organization care about this?
Why ask it
It is the test an editor applies before reading past the headline, and it lands more gently coming from you. A usable answer has a person and a consequence in it: a shorter wait, a lower bill, jobs in a named town. If the answer is only about how proud the team is, keep going until somebody else appears in it.
Who is involved, and how is each name and job title written?
Why ask it
Take the spellings from the person or from something they wrote themselves, never from memory. Titles change more often than email signatures do, so check what each one will be on the release date. A name misspelled in the release can be copied into every story written from it.
Where is this happening, and on what date does it start?
Why ask it
The dateline and the first paragraph need both. The date that counts is the day the thing becomes real for the public, which may not be the day the release goes out. 'Later this year' is worth one push for a month or a quarter the organization will stand behind.
What kind of news is this: a launch, a hire, funding, a partnership, an event, a result?
Why ask it
Each kind has details a reporter expects to find. A hire needs a start date and where the person came from, funding needs an amount and who put it in, an event needs a place, a time and how to get in. Naming the kind early shows you which of those you still have to collect.
What is new here that was not true three months ago?
Why ask it
Organizations often want to announce something that has been the case for a while. This separates the change from the background. Whatever was already true goes lower down the release, or into the boilerplate.
How is this different from what is already available?
Why ask it
You are after one difference a stranger could check, not a string of adjectives. A useful way in is what a customer would have to do instead if this did not exist. When the difference comes down to price or speed it is a figure, and it needs a source like every other number in the release.
What led to this, and how long has it been in the works?
Why ask it
Two or three sentences of history give the release its second half, and often a better quote than the planned one. Listen for the moment it nearly did not happen. You may never use it, but it shows what the person is proudest of.
Has any of this been said in public already?
Why ask it
A post from the chief executive, a slide at a conference or a line in a job advert can mean the news is partly out. Find out exactly what was said and where, so the release does not contradict it and nobody pitches as fresh something a reporter has already seen.
Facts and figures
Which numbers belong in this release, and where does each one come from?
Why ask it
Take the source with the number: the sales system, a survey, the audited accounts, someone's estimate. A figure with no source you can name is one to leave out or to label as an estimate. Get the period it covers as well, since 'up 40 percent' means nothing without one.
Who can confirm each figure if a reporter calls to check it?
Why ask it
The person across the table often heard the number in a meeting. Take the name of whoever owns it, in finance, sales or research, and ask whether you may go to them directly. One email to that person now costs less than a correction sent to every reporter afterwards.
What are the exact names of the product, the program and every organization mentioned?
Why ask it
Capital letters, spacing, 'Inc.' or 'Ltd', a trademark symbol or none: copy them from an official source, not from this conversation. Check that the name the team says in meetings is the one customers will see. Internal code names have a way of slipping into drafts.
What does it cost, and how does someone get it?
Why ask it
Price and availability are among the first things a trade reporter looks for, and often the ones a company would sooner leave vague. If the price cannot be stated, find out what can be: a starting price, a range, or 'on request'. For a free event or service, say so plainly and check whether places are limited.
How much money is involved, and can we state the amount?
Why ask it
Funding rounds, grants, contracts and donations all prompt the question, and 'undisclosed' is an answer reporters accept without liking it. Check that the other party has agreed to the figure being public. When only one side wants it stated, that has to be settled before the draft, not after.
What are we comparing this with: last year, the previous version, or a competitor?
Why ask it
A number only means something next to another one. Settle the comparison together and check it is like for like, same period and same measure. If it names a competitor, ask who has to approve that before it is written down.
Are we calling it the first, the largest or the only one of its kind, and what is that based on?
Why ask it
A reporter can test a claim like this in a few minutes, and a single counterexample makes the rest of the release look careless. Find out how they know and how far they looked. A narrower version usually holds up: the first in the region, the largest of its type. Where the claim touches a rival, ask whether the organization's lawyer wants to see it.
Which of these figures are counted, and which are forecasts or targets?
Why ask it
'Will create 200 jobs' and 'has hired 200 people' are different sentences, and the release has to make clear which one it is. Mark each forecast in your notes with who made it and the date it refers to. Some organizations, listed companies among them, have their own rules for statements about the future, so ask what applies there.
Is there a report, a contract summary or a spec sheet I can read for myself?
Why ask it
A summary given across a table drops the qualifiers. Reading the source lets you catch the 'up to' and the 'in trials' before a reporter does. If the document cannot leave the building, ask to read it there, or have its owner check your draft against it.
How would you explain how it works to someone outside your field?
Why ask it
This is where the jargon comes out. Have them try it as if telling a neighbor, and keep the plain version in their words. A plain version that sounds less impressive than the technical one is useful to know about before you write the headline.
Who it affects
Who is this release meant to reach?
Why ask it
Trade press, local news, investors and customers each want a different first paragraph. Ask for two or three outlets or kinds of reader by name. If the honest answer is 'everyone', choose the one audience the news matters to most and write for that one.
What problem does this solve, and who had that problem?
Why ask it
A release that opens on the problem gives a reporter the reason before the product. Get the problem in the words of the person who had it, not the team's, with one real case if there is one. If nobody can say who was struggling, what you have may be a feature and not yet a story.
What changes for a customer, a member or a resident on the day this takes effect?
Why ask it
It moves the announcement from what the organization did to what a person will notice. Ask for one concrete case: what someone does differently on a Tuesday morning. That case is often your second paragraph.
Has anyone already used it or benefited from it who would talk to a reporter?
Why ask it
This is someone a reporter can call, as distinct from a second quote in the release. Find out who would make the introduction and whether that person's employer has to agree. Leave time for it, because permission from a third party usually takes longer than anything inside the organization. For a hire or an appointment, skip it.
Does this mean something particular for a town, a region or an industry?
Why ask it
A site address, a number of local jobs or a named school can turn one release into several, each with its own opening. Ask which places have a real claim on the news and which are a stretch. A local editor can tell the difference at a glance.
What should a reader do after reading it?
Why ask it
Register, apply, visit, buy, or simply know. Whatever it is needs a date, a link or a phone number in the release, so collect those now. If there is nothing for the reader to do, that is fine, but check that the person you are interviewing agrees there is not.
Who will be unhappy about this, and what will they say?
Why ask it
Think of customers of the old version, a neighbor of the new site, staff whose roles change, a competitor. You are not writing their side, but knowing it keeps you from a sentence that invites the complaint. If the complaint is easy to predict, come back to it under Timing and limits, since those people may need telling first.
Which other organizations are named or credited, and have they seen what we plan to say about them?
Why ask it
Partners, funders and clients often have a say over how they are described, sometimes written into an agreement. Ask who the contact is on their side and how long their sign-off takes. A partner who learns of the release from a reporter will remember it.
The quote
Who should be quoted, and why that person?
Why ask it
The best choice is whoever made the decision or did the work, which is not always the most senior name. If the choice is political, it is better to learn that now. One strong quote beats three, and each extra name adds an approval.
In your own words, why does this matter to you?
Why ask it
Ask it, then stop steering and take down the answer as spoken. People tend to talk in better quotes than they approve in writing, and a line they really said is far easier to get signed off. If the first answer is corporate, ask what they told their family about it.
What was the hardest part of getting here?
Why ask it
Difficulty is where a human sentence tends to come from: the trial that failed, the year without funding, the customer who said no twice. Check before using it that they are happy for the struggle to be public. Some are, and some want only the result on the page.
What does this make possible that was not possible before?
Why ask it
A quote should carry opinion or intention, since the facts are already in the body of the release. This gives you the forward-looking line. Keep it tied to something they can deliver, and leave out any promise the figures you collected could not support.
Would you like me to draft the quote from what you have said today for you to edit?
Why ask it
Quotes in a release are commonly drafted by the writer, and saying so openly avoids a surprise when the draft arrives. Build it from phrases they used in this conversation. If they would sooner write their own, give a length, two or three sentences, and a deadline.
Does the release need a second quote, from a partner or a funder?
Why ask it
A joint announcement usually means a quote from each side, and the order they appear in can matter to the people involved, so find out who decides it. Get the other party's press contact too, because their quote will come through that person and not through your interviewee.
Is there a word or a phrase you would never want attributed to you?
Why ask it
Some executives cannot stand 'excited' or 'thrilled', and some have a reason to avoid a term a competitor owns or a regulator dislikes. Hearing it now saves a round of edits. It also shows how closely they intend to read the draft.
Will the person quoted be free to take calls on the day it goes out?
Why ask it
A reporter who likes the release may want ten minutes with the name in it, that same day. If that person will be on a flight or on stage at the launch, either move the date or agree who speaks instead. Note the hours they can be reached and pass them to the media contact.
Timing and limits
What day and time should it go out, and in which time zone?
Why ask it
Take the reason along with the date, so you know how fixed it is. Then count back: approvals, the partner's sign-off, photos, the landing page. If the days do not add up, say so in this meeting and not in an email the night before.
Is the release tied to anything else: an event, a filing, a partner's own announcement?
Why ask it
Something else on the calendar can set the timing more firmly than anyone's preference. Ask who controls that other date and how you would hear if it moved. Where an official filing or a stock exchange is involved, the order of disclosure may be governed by rules, so ask the organization's legal or finance contact how it works there.
Will it be sent ahead under embargo, or offered to one outlet first?
Why ask it
The decision may sit with the communications lead and not with the interviewee, but the interviewee will know whether anyone has been promised an early look. Either route changes your schedule, since a copy sent ahead has to be final days earlier. Outlets differ in how they treat an embargo, so whoever pitches should confirm the terms with each reporter before sending anything.
What can we not say yet?
Why ask it
Ask it flat and wait. Customer names, a price, the next product, the size of a deal: there is nearly always something. Write the list at the top of your notes so nothing on it drifts into the draft by way of a quote.
Is anything here covered by a contract, a pending approval or a legal matter?
Why ask it
You are not asking for the details, only for where the edges are and who knows them. Take the name of the person who can rule on a sentence when you are unsure. What may be said depends on the agreement and the place, so do not guess: send that person the wording.
Who needs to hear this before the press does?
Why ask it
The usual list is staff, major customers, investors, a union and the partner's team. Find out who is telling each of them and when, and set the release time after that. Employees who learn their own company's news from a reporter can become a second story.
What will reporters ask that the release does not answer, and what do we say?
Why ask it
Every release leaves a gap a reporter will head for: the job cuts behind a restructuring, the price behind a launch, the last product that slipped. Agree the answer, or agree that there is no comment, and hand it to whoever will pick up the phone. None of it goes in the release itself.
What would make us delay this or pull it?
Why ask it
Common answers are a deal not yet signed, a test still running, or a bigger story expected the same week. Knowing the condition lets you check on it the day before, instead of finding out after sending. Settle who makes that call.
Sign-off and logistics
Who has to approve the draft, in what order, and by when?
Why ask it
Write the chain down with a date beside each name. Ask who has the final word when two approvers disagree, and whether anyone outside the organization is on the list. If the chain is longer than the time available, raise it before you start writing.
Is the 'about us' paragraph at the foot of your releases still accurate?
Why ask it
That paragraph is the boilerplate, and it goes out of date quietly: staff numbers, office locations, the year founded, the one-line description. Read the current one aloud and let them correct it. For a joint release, find out whether the partner's paragraph goes in as well and who supplies it.
Who is the media contact, and will they answer the phone that day?
Why ask it
You need a name, an email address and a number that reaches a person. If the contact is you, make sure you hold the agreed answers and the spokesperson's reachable hours. A contact who is on leave when the release lands wastes the release.
What photos, video, logos or charts go with it, and who holds the rights?
Why ask it
Find out who took each picture and whether outlets may publish it freely. Collect the caption details now: who is shown, left to right, where and when. If there is nothing usable, ask whether a photo can be taken before the send date.
Which web page should the release point to, and will it be live in time?
Why ask it
One link is better than five. Ask who owns the page and whether it will show the same price, date and name as the release. Open it yourself on the morning, since a link to a page that is not up yet sends every reader to an error.
Where will it go once it is approved: a wire service, the company newsroom, direct to reporters?
Why ask it
Distribution changes the format, the length and sometimes the cost, so it helps to know before drafting. Ask who builds the list of reporters and who presses send. If nobody has thought about it, the release has no plan yet, and that is worth saying kindly.
If a gap turns up while I am drafting, who do I ask, and how quickly can they reply?
Why ask it
Something usually does turn up: a middle initial, a figure that does not match the spec sheet, a date two people remember differently. Get one name for facts and one for wording, since they are often different people. Say when the first draft will arrive, so the reply you need is not waiting behind someone's week away.
How to run a press release interview
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Setting up the interview
Read what already exists
Before the meeting, read the last two or three releases the organization put out, the web page for whatever is being announced and any internal memo you can get. You will arrive knowing the house style and the current boilerplate, and the interview can go on what is not written down anywhere.
Put the checkable questions in an email
Spellings, dates, prices, figures and the approval chain do not need a conversation. Email the ones from Facts and figures and from Sign-off and logistics a day or two ahead and ask for written replies. That leaves the meeting for The news and The quote, which only work out loud.
Ask for half an hour with whoever led the work
A release written from a forwarded brief reads like one. Ask for thirty minutes with the person who made the decision or ran the project, and say it will save them a round of edits later. If an executive can spare only ten, spend them on why now, what cannot be said and the quote, and get the rest from the project lead.
Say that nothing is public until it is approved
Open by saying that everything stays between you until the draft is signed off. People explain the background more freely when they know it is not all going on the page, and background is what lets you write an accurate sentence about the part that is.
While they are talking
Record it if they agree
A recording lets you lift phrases for the quote exactly as they were spoken. Ask first, and say what it is for. Rules on recording a conversation differ from place to place, so if you are unsure, find out what applies where each of you is sitting, or simply take notes.
Follow the groups in order, loosely
The six groups run the way the conversation tends to: what happened, the proof, who it touches, the voice, the limits, the paperwork. If the interviewee jumps to the embargo in the second minute, go with it and come back. Tick off what you have, so the gaps show while there is still time to fill them.
Say the announcement back in plain words
After The news, give them the announcement in one sentence of your own. If they correct you, good: the correction is the detail you were missing. If they agree too quickly, try a second version without their favorite adjective and see whether it still stands.
Star the quotable lines as they happen
When they say something with life in it, put a star beside it and note the time on the recording. By the end you will have three or four candidate quotes in their own voice, and no need to invent one that sounds like every other release.
Sort your notes while you take them
Put a letter in the margin as you go: R for what belongs in the release, B for background that helps you understand it but is not for print, X for anything on the list of what cannot be said. Doing it afterwards from memory is harder, because you will recall what was said and not how carefully it was said.
From notes to draft
Write the headline and first paragraph the same day
Draft the opening while the conversation is fresh, even if the rest waits. If you cannot write it, one of the questions under The news went unanswered, and a two-line email today is easier than a rewrite next week.
Put a source beside every fact
Go down the draft and write a name or a document next to each number, name and date. Anything with only 'said in the meeting' beside it goes back to the person who owns it. The Facts and figures questions exist to make this step short.
Send the quote inside the draft
The quote is what approvers change most, so let them see it in its place. Tell the quoted person which phrases are theirs from the interview. People tend to edit their own spoken words more gently than a line that was written for them.
Read it once against the list of what cannot be said
Before the draft leaves your hands, check it against the list you made under Timing and limits. Go through the quote and the boilerplate as well as the body, since that is where a customer's name or an unannounced date tends to hide.
What sinks a release before it is sent
Skipping the interview
A one-page brief gives you the what, and rarely the why now, the limits or a sentence anyone would say aloud. Even fifteen minutes on a call gets you those. If the organization will not give the time, put in writing which questions are still open, so the gaps are theirs to fill.
Letting the announcement stay vague
If the answer to the first question on this page is still 'we are building momentum', there is no release yet. Part of the writer's job is to say so, and to suggest what would make one: a date, a number, a named customer.
Taking a claim on trust
'Leading', 'first' and 'fastest-growing' feel harmless in a meeting room. In print they can be checked, and the writer's name is often on the email that carried them. Ask for the basis, or cut the word.
Finding the approvers too late
The partner's lawyer, the investor with a veto and the executive on holiday all surface in the last two days unless you ask about them in the first meeting. The questions under Sign-off and logistics are there so that the date you were given is one the draft can meet.