A boilerplate written at the end of a press release for the purpose of providing rudimentary information of the client has to be written not just in clear, succinct tones, but I often inject condensed, synoptic terms about the client’s leadership approach and values, strategic intent and brand tenets. This distinctive tenor to defining the writing style of a boilerplate imparts a brand-building nuance to the whole press release manifesto.

I recall an insightful conversation with a very dear friend of mine, who manages a corporate communications division in a multinational corporation:

1. Write a grammatically flawless boilerplate.

2. Sentencing and syntax must be well juxtaposed and not disjointed or unstructured with mismatched words.

3. No hyperboles please.

4. For named executive(s) in the boilerplate, use honorifics equitably.

5. Senior executives or leaders in a corporation may prefer an informal approach and opt to be addressed by their first names. This approach is just as acceptable.

With a corporate outreach to many countries in the Asia-Pacific rim, this deferential investor relations lady could have at the whim of her hefty annual budget, choose the most exciting, newsworthy and “fashionable” community activities to participate in.

Instead, she is working with terminally ill children from the most impoverished hospitals and hospices – kids with harrowing ailments and diseases, most of them from destitute families, many left at the doorstep of the hospitals and welfare homes by parents too ashamed of their debilitating plight.

Her inspiration is an emaciated child with no limbs, stricken by a variety of terminal illnesses, this child and her have become warm friends.

Her journey so far has not been an easy one. Children of this nature are shunned by many countries still, in Asia. This undeterred lady fights tooth and nail to ensure these children receive visitations from her and her corporate communications team, who bring toys, clothes and candy to these kids. The fight lies with these impoverished hospitals and homes who prefer to “hide” these children from the world. Better for no one to see their pain and suffering.

As a well known personality in many investor relations circles, it comes as a big surprise how little she talks about her “CSR” efforts. As a public relations consultant, I could not help but say, “This is exactly the kind of story the media would want to cover!”.

I am blown away by the humility and sheer utter sincerity of her CSR efforts. True to the spirit of giving back to society, this tenacious lady is completely emboldened by almost no desire to turn all CSR efforts to date, into a publicity spin.

I cannot emphasize enough to my clients how many press releases a journalist or a news desk receives in a day. So again I reiterate, tell the journalist, at the very onset of the press release what information you want publicized. Simple.

I like clear headlines that say explicitly and in unequivocal terms, exactly what the product it is you want a reporter to write about, or a launch event, or the opening of a new restaurant or commercial building, and so on.

Next comes the sub headline or deck which should strictly only mention in very succinct and concise terms, the highlights of the press release that warrant the preceding headline.

The first paragraph should really drive the news point of the launch, event or activity you really want the journalist to “get” so that the story idea is understood and the journalist in turn, can pitch for editorial space with the supervising editor.

I have seen many press releases written without establishing the news point. It is a common complaint among journalists that they almost never understand press releases – what is the news point? “I read the entire press release and I still don’t understand what I am being told”. The litany of grievances is extensive.

In my upcoming posts, I will talk about identifying and establishing the “news point”.