If you are an association, a nonprofit group, or if your event will be open to the public, you may want to consider a media release (often referred to as a "Press Release") to announce that Neil Dempster will be your keynote speaker. Why? Because you want as many butts in the seats as possible!

Media releases are an excellent way to announce your event to the general public, and/or to members of a specific industry or business sector. And when people are aware of your event, you may see attendance increase—you might even have people become interested in your group as a result of the positive experience they will have at the event!

So, what is a media release? It is simply a statement prepared for the media that is designed to give journalists useful information that will be interesting to their readers. Media releases conform to an established format, and journalists have set standards and expectations you must adhere to if you hope to have your release read and published. Click here to see a sample media release.

Media Release Fundamentals

Use a serif font (e.g., Times New Roman or Courier) and double-space the document. Media releases should be printed on organization letterhead, where possible. The organization's name, address, phone number and web site address should be printed clearly at the top of the page. Leave a blank line and then type MEDIA RELEASE (capitalized) and centered in bold. Leave two blank lines and then type IMMEDIATE RELEASE (capitalized).

On the next line, list the contact person's name and the telephone numbers where he or she can be reached. Leave a blank line and type your title, centered in bold. The title is like the headline of a newspaper—it needs to be "catchy," and grab the attention of the editor and/or journalist.

Leave a blank line after the title, and you are now ready for the body of the release. The first line starts with the city and date where the event is taking place. Next, type a space, an em-dash (an elongated hyphen), and another space. Now you are ready to start typing the who, what, where, when and why.

The first paragraph should contain a brief outline of what the release is about. The second paragraph should explain why anyone should care—what is special about this event—who would be interested and why—when the event will happen. In addition, it is highly recommended to provide a quote in this paragraph (surrounded by double quotation marks), that gives the release a personal touch—some human interest.

Typically, the third paragraph is also the last. It is a summation of the release, provides further information on your organization, and reiterates the contact information.

If your release exceeds one page, type 'Page Two' in the upper right hand corner of the second page. The standard protocol to signify the end of the release is three # symbols, centered directly beneath the last line of the release—it should look like this ###. Click here to see a sample media release.

Hint: A media release is not just for the media! Send a copy to your local chamber of commerce and other business associations. They are always looking for ways to help their members.