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Colorful numbers

Startling statistics make compelling leads

Research shows … that nearly half of commuters text and drive … that one in three patients enters the hospital malnourished … and that 66% of women won’t kiss men with moustaches.

Colorful numbers
By the numbers Surprise readers with startling statistics. Image by Stephen Coles

Statistics like these grab attention and make your point.

But you don’t have to tell PRSA’s Silver Anvil Award winners. They use statistics to sell their ideas:

Read full article >

Related stories

Start with a story

Start with a story: Steal a tip from these Silver Anvil Award-winning campaign leads

Squeeze juicy details

Squeeze juicy details: Compress fascinating facts into a creative passage

“If the copy doesn’t excite me within 20 words, I won’t read the rest of it.”
— Editor to Jack E. Appleman, CBC, president of SG Communications, LLC

Master the Anatomy of a News Release

Tap current best practices, from lead to boilerplate

Prose is architecture, Ernest Hemingway famously said. It’s not interior design.

So: Are you building a compelling foundation for your PR pieces? Or are you still using structural techniques you learned when you were 19?

Master the Anatomy of a News Release
Anatomy lesson What goes where in a contemporary P.R. piece? Image by University of Liverpool

Here’s the bad news: The story structure you’re using today probably isn’t helping you get the word out via media relations. In fact, the traditional news structure reduces readership, understanding, sharing and engagement and — according to a study by The Poynter Institute — does “not work well with readers.”

Here’s the good news: At Not Your Father’s News Release — our two-day PR-writing master class on May 18-19 in Chicago, and on Nov. 16-17 in Kansas City — you’ll learn to use a structure that’s been proven in the lab to grab readers’ attention, keep it for the long haul and leave a lasting impression.:

Specifically, you’ll learn how to:

  • Decide between triangles, boxes or lists: Choose a structure that increases readership, engagement and sharing. (Hint: The structure you’re using now is probably doing the opposite.)
  • Steal a trick from The New York Times: Trade in your bloated fact packs for snappy synthesis leads.
  • Build a better benefits lead with our fill-in-the-blanks approach.
  • Avoid PR 101 leads: Still stuffing all those W’s and the H into the first paragraph? Still writing “XYZ Company today announces that …”? It’s time to move on to a more effective approach.
  • Beat the boilerplate blues: Here’s one way to stay off The Bad Pitch Blog.

This is the only PR-writing workshop we have planned in Chicago in 2017. Don’t miss out on your chance to master PR-writing in Chicago! Register now.

Register now

“Puts me one step ahead of everyone else writing press releases and trying to get media coverage.”
— Maren Johnsrud, communications associate, Mayo Clinic

Polish your skills at these Master Classes

Learn to Master the Art of the Storyteller, Catch Your Readers, Get Clicked, Cut Through the Clutter and more

Register for Catch Your Reader: Ann Wylie's persuasive writing workshop in Las Vegas on March 22-23, 2017
Register for Cut Through the Clutter - Ann Wylie's Tight Writing workshop in Washington, D.C. on April 6-7, 2017
Register for Not Your Father's News Release - Ann Wylie's PR-writing workshop in Chicago on May 18-19, 2017
Register for Catch Your Reader: Ann Wylie's persuasive writing workshop in Boston on June 19-20, 2017
Register for Get Clicked, Read, Shared & Liked - Ann Wylie's online-writing workshop in Portland on July 27-28, 2017
Register for Cut Through the Clutter - Ann Wylie's tight-writing workshop in San Francisco on Aug, 17-18, 2017
Register for Master the Art of the Storyteller in New York: Ann Wylie's creative-writing workshop in New York on Sept. 25-26, 2017
Register for Catch Your Readers in Dallas: Ann Wylie's persuasive writing workshop in Dallas on Oct. 16-17
Register for Not Your Father's News Release - Ann Wylie's PR-writing workshop in Kansas City on Nov. 16-17, 2017
Register for Get Clicked, Read, Shared & Liked - Ann Wylie's online-writing workshop in Miami on Dec. 11-12, 2017

Rather bring Ann in to train your whole team?

Invite Ann

Catch Ann on the road

Save when you book a workshop while I’m in your neighborhood

Ask about piggybacking on my upcoming engagements in:

  • Boston: June 19-20
  • Chicago: May 18-19
  • Dallas: Oct. 16-17
  • Kansas City: Nov. 16-17
  • Las Vegas: March 22-23
  • Miami: Dec. 11-12
  • New York: Sept. 25-26
  • Northbrook, Illinois: June 14
  • Plano, Texas: March 20
  • Portland: July 27-28
  • San Francisco: Aug. 17-18
  • Washington, D.C.: April 6-7

Keep up with my calendar.

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Jan. 31, 2025

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  • 3 more writing resolutions for 20253 more writing resolutions for 2025: Build a bridge, not a wall — and more
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