Planning an event for maximum PR

The later you contact a publicist when planning an event, the fewer media outlets you can get.

Local print magazines often need information at least three months in advance, sometimes more.

Even monthly or weekly tabloids usually have a two-month lead time.

If possible, plan the location or a connection to a location that is in a monthly or weekly newspaper circulation area.   

If you want local talk shows, you’ll need two months lead time for them, too.

A week or two before the event, only news media generally are available.

By then, the competition is fierce and all that’s left is a few feel-good feature slots.

For maximum PR on your event, contact a PR person to help at least four months in advance.

For more information, call us at (916) 455-4790 or go to Dell Richards Publicity at  www.dellrichards.com.

How to talk to the media

Speak slowly. Tap your foot as you speak to slow yourself 

down.

Pause between phrases. Wait for the reporter to catch up.

Speak in sound bites. The shorter the sentence, the better.

Use short words. Two syllables are better than three.  

Do not use jargon. If you have to explain a word, you will 

lose your audience—and your reporter.  

Use the "child" test. In your mind, explain it to a child.

Avoid complex sentences. If half got lost, would it mean 

what you want?

Never say anything you wouldn't want your boss, your 

mother or everyone you've ever met to know.

If you must say something you don't want to admit, go  

"Off the Record." Never do this unless you absolutely 

have to. The reporter may respect it, but an editor may 

not.

If you don't know something, say you're not sure, but 

you’ll find out. Then, get back ASAP.

If a reporter calls and you can’t talk, find out their 

deadline. Tell them when you’ll get back to them.  

The media usually only calls once on a story. If you don’t 

get back to them—and you are not absolutely crucial to 

the story—you will never hear from them again. 

For more information on Dell Richards Publicity, call us 

at 916.455.4790 or visit www.dellrichards.com.

The worst time to pitch a reporter is

People sometimes call us because a competitor has a story in the media.

It’s great they want publicity, but they’re not going to get an article from that source, which is usually what they’re after.

To paraphrase Jeff Haden, a columnist at Inc.com, “If I just wrote about the subject, I’m good for the next year or so.”

Luckily, there are always other media to approach.

If the article was in the local daily paper, we could pitch the local business journal, the local weekly or monthly magazines.

We could go for broadcast media: television and radio appearances or quotes in Internet stories.

We could target trade journals—not the ones clients themselves read—but the ones read by their clients.

To do so, we come up with angles focused on the specific media.

That way, a missed opportunity becomes a way of creating a broad-range public relations campaign that delivers long-term results.

For more information, contact Dell Richards Publicity at 916.455.4790 or visit us at www.dellrichards.com.