You have to keep two audiences in mind when you write a release. The first audience is the people, the media gatekeepers, who are going to be reading the release and deciding do they want to follow up and pursue this story for their publication or for their broadcast outlet. The second audience is the ultimate audience who you're thinking of as the television viewers or the newspaper readers. The story is going to be very much changed and transformed by the time the ultimate listeners find out about it. You really should primarily gear the way that you write the release for the needs and the expectations of those media gatekeepers.

Let me tell you what the Number One complaint was that came out in a survey of local newspaper editors. Their Number One complaint about the press releases they received was, "It sounds like an advertisement. It's too salesy." The thing that I have been able to pinpoint as being the biggest thing that gives that impression of it being an advertisement or being salesy, is the word "you," three letters. This rule can be overused, but it's a good thing, particularly when you're learning how to write these releases, to follow the rule of never using the word "you," either explicitly or in pride, in the writing of the press release, unless it's within a quote that is attributed to somebody. If you follow that one rule, then you have gone a long way toward avoiding that complaint, of it sounding like an advertisement or of coming off as being too salesy. What you should aim for is a journalistic tone, the same kind of tone that you find in news stories in the newspaper. They're not trying to sell something. They're telling you what's happening. And that's how you should write your headline. For more tips on how to write fantastic press releases, read "The Do-It-Yourself Press Release Makeover."