Be Brief.
Make every word count.
Get to the point…FAST!
Pitching stories to a journalist is a great way to get media attention but you want to make sure you are being effective. When you are pitching journalists a story you want to make sure you are getting to the meat of your idea quickly. Don’t waste time with a lot of wordy pleasantries. No one has time for that, least of all an extremely busy journalist who is on deadline and who has an email inbox that is busting at the seams. Journalists get hundreds of emails, including press releases and story pitches, weekly and sometimes daily. I am not suggesting you be rude but be efficient with your words.
When you are sending an email pitch be clear, concise and conversational. You want to make sure your story idea is understandable. You don’t want the reporter or producer to have to work at figuring out what story is all about.
Write a subject line or headline that is clear and doesn’t leave anything to question. You want to hook the journalist but don’t try to be so clever they aren’t sure what the story is about.
Make your email readable. Write your story pitch with a few opening sentences to introduce yourself and what story you are pitching and then follow up some bullet points. It makes your pitch much easier to read and scan quickly.
Again, make sure you are being clear and concise. Get to the point when pitching story ideas.
