Press Release Template: Copy, Customize, Send

Most press release templates available online teach you the shell but not the logic behind each section. You get a placeholder where the headline goes and a note saying “write your headline here.” What you don’t get is the reasoning that turns a functional template into a release that earns coverage.

This template is different. Each section comes with its purpose, its rules, and the most common way teams break it.

The press release template structure at a glance

Before going section by section, here’s the complete skeleton:

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / EMBARGOED UNTIL: Date, Time, Timezone]

HEADLINE: [One sentence, active voice, specific noun + specific verb + concrete outcome]
SUBHEADLINE: [Optional. One sentence of supporting context.]

[City], [Date] – [Lead paragraph: Who + What + When + Where + Why in 35-40 words]

[Body paragraph 1: Most important supporting detail. One idea per paragraph.]

[Body paragraph 2: Quote from company leadership. 1-3 sentences. First-person, opinionated.]

[Body paragraph 3: Additional context, data, or second quote from partner/customer.]

[Body paragraph 4: Background and forward-looking statement if needed.]

About [Company]:
[3-5 sentences: what you do, who you serve, one or two credibility anchors. No adjectives.]

Media contact:
[Full name]
[Title]
[Direct phone number]
[Email address]

Each of these blocks has specific rules. Violating them is how a release gets shelved.

The release header: embargo or immediate

At the very top, one of two lines:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

or

EMBARGOED UNTIL [Day], [Date], [Time], [Timezone]

The first signals that the release can go live the moment it’s received. The second is a negotiated hold – the journalist has agreed to publish nothing until the specified time.

If you’re unsure which to use: only use an embargo if you have actively communicated with the journalist beforehand and they’ve agreed to the terms. An embargoed release sent cold to someone who never agreed to the hold is not an embargo – it’s an unenforceable request attached to a press release.

The headline: the most rewritten line in PR

The headline is the most scrutinized and most often rewritten element in any press release. Most first drafts fail for the same reasons: they describe the company rather than the news, they use passive voice, or they include adjectives that would never appear in a published article.

The formula: [Named subject] + [active verb] + [specific outcome or fact]

Working examples:

• “Celonis and SAP expand automation partnership to cover procurement across 180 countries”
• “Berlin fintech Moss raises €100M Series B as SMB expense management market consolidates”
• “Study of 1,400 German PR teams finds AI-assisted pitch drafts outperform manual pitches by 34%”

In each case: named subjects, specific verbs, concrete numbers or outcomes. A journalist reading these headlines can immediately evaluate whether the story fits their beat.

What doesn’t work:

• “Leading European Tech Company Announces Exciting New Strategic Initiative” – Who? What exactly?
• “Company X Unveils Next-Generation Platform to Transform Industry” – Every release says this.
• “Milestone Achievement Reached as Company Celebrates Growth” – A milestone of what?

The test for a headline: could it appear word-for-word in a news publication? If it sounds too polished, too branded, or too promotional – it fails the test.

The lead paragraph: one paragraph, the full story

The lead is the hardest section to write because it requires genuine news judgment. You’re condensing the full story into 35 to 40 words while answering five questions: who, what, when, where, and why.

Template:

[Company/Person], [location], has/announced/launched/closed [specific action] [to achieve / with the result that / targeting] [specific outcome], [optional: timing or qualifier].

Example:

“Hamburg freight tech startup Route42 has closed a €12 million Series A led by HV Capital to expand its AI-powered spot freight routing platform to 200 Mittelstand logistics providers by end of 2026.”

What this lead contains:

• Who: Route42, HV Capital
• What: €12M Series A
• Where: Hamburg
• When: by end of 2026 (the goal)
• Why: expanding to a specific target market

What it does not contain: the company’s founding year, a generic description of what they do, a quote, an opinion, or any background that can wait for paragraph two.

The most common lead failure is front-loading with company description. “Route42, founded in 2020 by two ex-McKinsey consultants with a passion for supply chain optimization, is a Hamburg-based technology company that provides AI solutions for the logistics sector…” – by the time the news arrives, the reader is gone.

Body paragraphs: the inverted pyramid in practice

Each body paragraph should contain one idea. The most important supporting detail goes in paragraph one. Less critical context goes further down.

Paragraph 1 – Most important supporting detail: Expand on the lead with the most significant additional fact. For a funding announcement, this might be what the capital will be used for specifically. For a product launch, the key differentiator. For a study, the most counterintuitive finding.

Paragraph 2 – First quote: The CEO or most senior relevant executive. The quote should express an opinion, not restate the news. See the quote section below.

Paragraph 3 – Supporting context: Additional facts, a second data point, or context that helps a journalist understand the significance of the news. This is also where a partner or customer quote fits, if included.

Paragraph 4 – Background: Company context that a journalist would need to understand the news but that isn’t part of the news itself. This is the lowest-priority paragraph – if the journalist cuts from here, the story still works.

Quotes: two rules that fix 90% of the problems

Rule one: quotes express opinion, not facts. Facts belong in the body. “We are the fastest growing logistics tech company in the DACH region” is a claim that belongs in the body (where it needs a source) or not at all. “The spot market has been structurally underserved by tech investment for a decade – and that’s finally changing” is a quote.

Rule two: quotes sound like speech. Read them aloud. If they don’t sound like something a human being would say in a conversation with a business journalist, rewrite them.

The fastest way to improve any press release quote: take out all adjectives, take out all statements about the company’s position or size, and replace them with the speaker’s actual opinion about the market or situation.

Before: “We are thrilled and honored to announce this landmark partnership. Together with [Partner], we will leverage our combined industry expertise to deliver unparalleled solutions to our valued customers.”

After: “The last company in this space that tried to move the spot market failed because they didn’t understand how Mittelstand procurement actually works. We’ve spent three years solving exactly that.”

The boilerplate: identical in every release

The boilerplate is the same in every release you send. It is not an opportunity for marketing copy. It is a brief reference document that tells a journalist who your company is if they’ve never heard of you.

Template:

About [Company]: [Company] is a [location]-based [company type] that [what it does] for [who it serves]. Founded in [year], the company [one credibility anchor: number of customers, key investors, notable certification or award]. [Optional: geographic reach or one forward-looking sentence.]

Example:

About Route42: Route42 is a Hamburg-based logistics technology company that provides AI-powered freight routing software for mid-sized transport and logistics businesses. Founded in 2020, the company serves more than 80 freight forwarders across the DACH region and is backed by HV Capital and Speedinvest.

That’s 47 words. Enough context. No adjectives. No mission statement. Repeatable in every release.

The contact block: the section most often broken

The contact block should contain exactly four things: the contact person’s full name, their title, their direct phone number, and their email address.

What it should not contain: company logos, social media handles, legal disclaimers, secondary contacts, links to press pages, or embedded images.

The one practical requirement: the person listed must be reachable. A journalist writing a story on deadline calls the number on the release. If it goes to voicemail, if the person is in a meeting, if the email bounces – the story may go without your input, and sometimes without your knowledge.

For how to build the distribution list that determines who receives this template in the first place, see press release distribution. For the foundational principles behind what makes any press release work, see how to write a press release.

The checklist

Before you send:

• Header specifies “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” or exact embargo terms
• Headline: named subject, active verb, specific outcome – no adjectives
• Lead paragraph: answers who/what/when/where/why in 35-40 words
• Each body paragraph contains one idea only
• Quotes sound like speech, not committee writing
• Boilerplate is identical to previous releases and under 75 words
• Contact is a real person with a direct number
• No HTML formatting, embedded images, or attachments in the email
• Total release length: 300-500 words (not including boilerplate and contact)

A press release template is a structure, not a crutch. The structure holds; the content still has to be written with editorial judgment. A journalist receiving the most perfectly formatted release in history will still delete it if the news isn’t there.