10-Point Checklist to Avoid for Good Press Release Writing

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Sometimes people forget that writing a good press release requires the same high quality of writing as penning the great American novel. Granted, the length and fictitious imagination differ but the writing must be top quality. In fact, grabbing a reader’s attention with a one or two-page press release really limits the amount of time and space you have. When writing your next press release, follow the same good rules with the following check list.

1. Avoid clichés. If you’ve heard it before, chances are your reader has too. Boring….
2. Avoid dialect. People have a tough time reading misspelled words, even if they sound authentic.
3. Avoid capital letters and underlines unless you have a legitimate reason. OVERUSE OF CAPITAL LETTERS CAN BE AS IRRITATING TO YOUR EYES AS SOMEONE SHOUTING IN YOUR EAR.
4. Avoid contractions. Do not use don’t if you can use do not.
5. Avoid double negatives: Don’t use No bad grammar.
6. Avoid starting a sentence with a conjunction. As Winston Churchill said, “That is a rule up with which I will not put.”
7. Avoid slangy phrases: “We gotta get it on, man.”
8. Avoid misplaced modifiers: The roses were beautiful of my aunt.
9. Avoid split infinitives. He wants to the store go.
10. Avoid commas that are unnecessary. New rules eschew the use of as many commas as grammarians once required.