They make most reporters recoil. At best, their appearance may induce drowsiness or cause reporters to roll their eyeballs upward. At worst, they significantly reduce your chances of getting your message across the plate. They’re words that repel reporters.
PR folks like to call themselves “storytellers.” Fair enough. But then why do too many press releases still possess hackneyed (and puffy) terms that make reporters think that the press releases they receive in their inboxes have been assembled, as opposed to written?
In a social media age, PR pros owe it to themselves to write in conversational tones and shouldn’t have to rely on phrases and terms whose meanings tend to drift away like the Santa Ana winds.
You may have a story that’s tailor-made for the reporter or media outlet, but if the release (or email) is bogged down by the words and terms below, the journalist may give pause about dignifying the pitch.
So, in the spirit of New Year’s resolutions, how about putting these words and phrases to pasture when it comes to writing effective press releases?
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Engagement
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Fastest-growing
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High-performance
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Incredible
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Leading
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Powerful
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Solutions
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Unparalleled
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Utilize
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“We are excited…” quote about product/service/executive appointment/whatever
Are we missing any words that PR pros can forever eliminate from their written communications?
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Here are a few more I picked up from recent press releases I received: unique,extremely unique,unsurpassed, boasts, world class, visionary, outstanding, momentous (event), value proposition, fastest growing, pleased to announce, proud to be (associated with this project).
This is a start. I’m a former News Reporter and spent 20 years in this career. I also spent a little time in PR which helps me understand “the other side”.
So many press releases are filled with over the top adjectives. Utilize is probably ine of the most over used words in the American-English language. To utilize something is to use something in a way other than how it was intended. Why not just say used!
Keep it simple and at the same time tell me what makes your product or company different than your competitors. What makes you unique? Give me a compelling personal story linked to your press release. Follow up with me, give me something different than what you give to the news outlet across the street.
I agree, use of these terms are way overused and many times cannot be substantiated.
Let’s make a deal: ill stop using terms that bug the media if the media will at least make an honest attempt to reply one way or another to a story pitch. Say yay or nay, but don’t just ignore. It wastes my time and yours.
Groundbreaking
Paradigm
How about this for a pitch? (and good for a laugh. Thanks for the reminder.) “We are excited to present a powerful, unparalleled solution that features incredible ways to utilize the fastest-growing method for high-performance consumer engagement.”
Yes, a few others that are “meaningless” include:
We are proud…
We are committed to…
Also, using the same boilerplate for all news releases is troublesome. Create at least 5 or more boilerplates so that news releases are not “repetitive” with organizational facts. These will be skimmed and, eventually, missed…
How about:
– Award Winning
– Top of the line
– Never before…
The list goes on.
Happy 2013 folks!
You do realise that these are the very words that clients EXPECT to see in their press releases. We can advise all we want but at the end of the day the client has final approval. Every PR knows that they have to write their press releases so that the journalist can literally pick it up and drop it straight into their publication. Explaining this to clients is another matter. Some (good) clients will accept this. Others just want something that will read the way they want it to on their websites – sadly!
Add “cutting edge” to that list!
other words to eliminate:
>>best-in-class (yes, it IS still used)
>>robust (ewww)
>>”…today announces…” (really?
Unique! Seldom true.
I do always wonder why people use “utilize†when they could utilize the shorter, more familiar word “useâ€.
In addition to “excited” — “We are pleased/thrilled/honored …”
Leverage. ROI. Unique.
The challenge for PR pros is getting their clients to agree to take those words out of the release!! Who’s with me here? How many times do you edit the release and the client puts those words back in -“because they’re true.’ ugh!
Revolutionized
“the best (product or service)” … you could be asked to prove that!
Yes, to your last question: It is the newest, A developing, and what, I think is more important whether in written or spoken “speech” is the tone. A Happy New Year can only be had if undue fears were not generated by PR…
Unprecedented!
So glad “premier” was not on the list!
thank you, thank you, thank you for putting “utilize” on that list. use of the word is dare i say it…over-utilized.
I live in Southern California. In no sense do Santa Ana winds “drift away.”
As a veteran newsdesk person I could write a book on bad press releases. The best ones have at the top in bullet form:: Who, Where, When, What and a phone number on site for a contact person. Save the fluffy stuff for later in the release.
These are busy people who have just seconds to glance at your email or release, so keep it simple.
My favourite idiot organisation insisted on repeatedly calling themselves a ‘one-stop-shop’. Worse part was they weren’t even this.
unique, amazing, awesome
add cutting-edge, unmatched, and best-in-class to the herd
Robust
More words:
world-class
state-of-the-art
major
unsurpassed
proud to announce
announces
And I could go on and on…
there’s even a tumblr set up for excited: http://everyonesexcited.tumblr.com/
How about ‘delighted’ and ‘reaching out’?
“…like the Santa Ana winds.”
I’ve been on both sides as well, nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor in New York City, Washington, D.C. & elsewhere, now the owner of a PR and marketing firm. I tell those who write for me to simply tell the story. If their writing cannot generate excitement, I need new writers. And can the exclamation points. Please.
“…would like to take this opportunity to…”
“Enterprise” – which seems to be used for just about anything and everything anymore. I always wanna respond, “Beam me up!
In 2013, I hope not to hear “…going forward” and “passionate”. So over-used as to be meaningless.
I have a client who uses initials all the time. And he’s a PRO for a Saas PRM. Usually takes me until EOD to understand him.
Having spent a combined 35 years on both the news and PR side, I agree with all the suggestions on words that should be banned, though any modifier for “unique” makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
As to clients “expecting” certain words in their news releases, PR professionals need to act like professionals and counsel their clients, not just do their bidding.
Finally, PLEASE stop using the phrase “PRESS” release. As we enter 2013, only a very small percentage of news gets anywhere near a printing press. “NEWS RELEASE” or “MEDIA RELEASE” going forward (another term to be banished), please.
Thanks. I’m passing this on to the PR team where I work as we’re often told to add some of these words. As a former journalist, I know how much it hurts the pitch.
“Making a difference” – what the hell does that mean anyways? Reporters like fluff about as much as your Grandmother likes Justin Bieber.
Sincerely,
A non-profit PR person
Eaterie, going forward, deliverable. stepping up to the plate, a winner. A good story doesn’t need embellishment.
Seldom write a press release, but I can tell a story, And provide documentation. Unfortunately media seldom strays from the norm in content, which is the difference in market based media, and journalism.
“We wish them well…”
As if.
The word ‘engagement’ can have value if it is used with verifiable metrics and those metrics are newsworthy. In this regard, engagement then becomes something a community can be shown to be doing or supporting, which may actually be the pitch.
I’ve been 23 years in print media, the past nine as a newspaper editor.Now I’m enjoying PR and marketing. The word “unique” was my most common loathe, and “writers” who use exclamations. However, the most common put-off now are NZ companies sending me “breaking news” when it’s not, and using American spelling for articles in the NZ-only magazine I co-ordinate.
As a former journalist, I agree with adding the 5 W’s and a contact at the top of the release. I call them “Quick Hits.” The journalist can then pick up this info and drop them in a calendar listing if that is appropriate.
I don’t know, given the number of times people commenting suggest repellent words others have already added, you PR professionals are reading this thread as closely as you expect journalists to read your press releases ;)
When you’re just a middle man in the process, no one cares what words journos like or not. Sorry, but its the truth, as hinted at by other comments on here. Try “utilizing” journo qualifications and providing a more rounded service.
Major