# Writing and Delivering a Pitch ## Pitch Tips This is a collection of tips from researchers, leading US journalists, and premier marketing and communications professionals. By following these best-practices—focusing on building genuine relationships—you increase your chances of building lasting relationships and landing media coverage. - **Quick & Personal Greeting:** Mention the journalist's first name as soon as possible to catch their attention, but don't drag the greeting out. At the same time, treat interactions with journalists as opportunities to build lasting relationships rather than transactional encounters. Keep it casual and direct. Studies show American journalists prefer this tone, and we want to preserve the email preview window for hard news. Keep in mind, though, that sometimes pitches require more formality. If you’re unsure, just ask! - **Highlight the Unique Angle:** Acknowledge that journalists are inundated with pitches. Start with a punch by highlighting the unique angle of the news story in the first sentence. This immediately captures the journalist's interest and makes the pitch more compelling. Doing so shows you've researched and understand the story's relevance to their beat. Remember, the first sentence or so is what makes or breaks a pitch, almost just as much as the subject line. - **Catchy Subject Line:** When crafting your subject line, instead of repeating the press release or article title, lead with a short and clever phrase emphasizing the news story's unique angle or exclusive information. For instance, mention well-known and relevant companies. Remember, most people read emails on their phones, so brevity is key. Longer titles can also increase the risk of your email being flagged as spam. Aim for a sub-10-word title to leave room for an Emoji, but this isn't a strict rule; some excellent titles can be 11 or 12. I like adding Emojis to the subject line because they’re proven to increase the open rates, but avoid them if the topic is more serious. Sometimes, accepting a lower open rate can be valuable to preserve the client's reputation. If you’re unsure, just ask! - **Hyperlinking for Social Proof:** If the people mentioned have a nice list of achievements or experience, hyperlink their LinkedIn as social proof. When including links in your email, it's essential to be selective because adding too many can increase the risk of your email being flagged as spam. I typically keep it at or under 3 links, but the number may vary. Remember, the goal is to provide enough information to pique the journalist's interest without overwhelming them. - **Don't Follow Up:** The journalist probably didn't open or reply to your email because it was bad and didn't merit a response. Some they hold onto and might use later. What doesn't help your pitch is a half-dozen follow ups, when you just "float this back up" to the top of their inbox. Don't. - **Pick Up the Phone:** Rather than cookie-cutter email pitches, you can pick up the phone and tell the journalist a story. They usually answer the phone unless they're tied up, and if you can explain your story by phone in 2-3 minutes, they're way more engaged. - **Craft a Story:** Construct your pitch to include conflict, characters, and context. Journalists are looking for stories, not just information. Emphasize the human element and the stakes involved. - **Show, Don't Tell:** If you think you've spotted a trend, show the journalist some reputable recent data to support it. Not an online survey of 80 random millennials. There's a dearth of reliable data out there, so solid data—especially if it's exclusive—goes a long way. Similarly, find an actual company where the issue is being faced, and offer that CEO or others who can speak on the record about the issue. Not some random "thought leader" who wrote a book about it 5 yrs ago and hasn't been keeping up. - **No Self-serving Surveys:** Just stop. If your client does catering and commissions a survey about how free food is the key to return to office (RTO), please tell them that's marketing, not journalism. (Then tell them it's false.) - Don't send pitches promising your client's steaming-hot take on a trend story that one of their rivals just published. - **Forget the Jargon:** If we do quote your client, we need to explain in plain English what they do. Please do not spend half the day trying to convince journalists to describe said client as an "end-to-end best-of-breed holistic enterprise solutions provider." It distracts them from the actual hard work of fact checking, and annoys them immensely. Have a quiet word with your clients about this. - **Be Simple and Transparent:** A good pitch grabs attention immediately and is concise—two to three paragraphs max. Start simple and transparent: share what you're working on and why it matters, without sounding salesy. Avoid trying to "win over" the recipient too early. Instead, aim to spark a conversation: _This is what we're doing; here's why it's interesting. Would you like to learn more?_ - **Don't be Pushy:** Your goal should be to present a compelling story, not to push a marketing agenda. Reporters are looking for something genuinely interesting, whether it’s a person or technology, not a request to help you promote your business. - **Don't be Desperate:** One common mistake is treating reporters like part of your marketing team. Phrases like _"Will you help us amplify our announcement?"_ make you seem desperate and out of touch with how the media works. Reporters aren't there to help you sell—they’re looking for stories that will engage their audience. Focus on being direct and plainspoken, not begging for attention. Remember: reporters are not your teammates. - **Focus on connecting:** If you want to build a meaningful relationship with a reporter, focus less on your mercenary goal of getting a story around a particular announcement. Instead, focus on connecting—invite them to coffee, a lunch, or a meeting at your office. Building rapport face-to-face can lead to better long-term relationships and more natural story opportunities down the road. - **Be Interesting without Jargon:** Reporters, especially experienced ones, are inundated with pitches. It's shocking how bad most people are at describing what they do and what their company does with any semblance of conciseness and devoid of plain language. Avoid jargon, and explain why this thing is important and interesting. - **Tailor the Pitch:** Every reporter has different interests, so tailor your pitch. Some are drawn to unconventional or eccentric ideas, while others value long-term, complex engineering projects. Share a couple of unique tidbits about your background or approach that make you stand out. - **Be Humble:** Don't lay out too much of your life story, it's going to look like you find yourself too important. Just provide just enough to differentiate yourself from the crowd. - **Settle Down**: CTA should be "is this an interesting story that you might want to learn more about?" or "Is this of interest?" Try to spark a bit of a conversation as opposed to just trying to win me over right away. - **Break in Through Mutual Connections:** Experienced reporters already have a web of connections granting them access to most interesting people, so it's better to be introduced, which goes a long way in terms of them hearing you out. - "I’ll pass, thanks Ethan. For commentaries we want writers to take a stance, not just explain things." — Steve Mollman, contributors editor at Fortune ## Subject Line Tips [[My Favorite Subject Lines Headlines Titles]] [[Framework for High-Impact Headlines]] ## Pitch Outline hook (context) → proof points → clear, casual ask ## Pitch Example > **CEO Movement + Why drivers pay $18 more to walk 0.2 miles less** > > Good morning {{MediaContactFirstName}}, > > I just saw that you're accepting tips so I wanted to share an executive movement at Flash (50M+ annual transactions, 30,000+ locations, partnered with Google Maps and Waze): Chris Donus has been appointed CEO ([Newswire announcement](https://newsdirect.com/news/flash-appoints-chris-donus-ceo-250883822)). > > Donus steps in just as data reveals a $35 billion blind spot in commercial real estate. While properties pour billions into amenities, they're missing how consumer behavior has shifted: drivers will pay an $18 premium just to avoid a 0.2-mile walk, yet 90% of parking remains stuck in the analog era. > > Interested in digging into the numbers behind this story? > > Thank you so much, > > Ethan Young > Senior Associate, Razor Sharp Public Relations > +1 (512) 810-2644 > razorsharppr.com %% [[Pitch Process Step-by-step]] ⭐ this is good except there's some loss in vivid language [[prompt for pitch steps]] [[Pitch Process Step-by-step by Claude Sonnet 3.5]] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A7AVtOsWjomG6hBVxqFASVyxA2UWqcwD_c4HbV2blmw/edit?usp=sharing %%