Dry Quotes

Generating quotes in a media release is often a stumbling block for younger PR practitioners. Quotes should add additional insight to a news release and give a human voice to the release.

Unfortunately, practitioners sometimes generate quotes that are both generic and unauthentic. Here are two things to look out for when creating quotes:

1. “We at (client X) are excited about (event Y).” Seriously, any time a practitioner uses a variant of “I am excited for (insert here),” they risk sounding like Donald Trump trying to pitch a new product. Even if you are trying to pitch a promote a new product or an event, you do not want to sound too much like you’re trying to promote a new product or event. Besides, excitement is not newsworthy. Kathy from Master Your Message elaborates further in her post “Bad Press Releases Feature Boring, Ridiculous Quotes.”
   
2. “(Product) uses innovative, cutting edge technology to create business solutions that will increase productivity by 100%.” Using language that is ambiguous and cliche is a good way to make sure the quote in your press release is not used by the media.
   

Practitioners make mistakes like these so often that it sometimes stirs debate as to whether or not PR practitioners should even include quotes in their press releases.

Most practitioners agree that actually interviewing a spokesperson will help practitioners avoid the two problem areas above. In addition, interviewing a spokesperson will allow you to incorporate their speaking style into your release, which will help distinguish a quote from the rest of the release.