How to Write a Press Release Quote Reporters Will Use

Most reporters skip the quote in your announcement because it says nothing a person would actually say out loud. A press release quote that reads like "We are thrilled to announce this exciting milestone" gets cut in the first edit, and with it goes the only part of the release where your spokesperson had a voice.

I have written and approved hundreds of these for clients, from a ten person software firm to a regional hospital group. The quotes that got printed shared a few traits, and none of them were about sounding impressive. They were about giving the journalist something they could not write themselves.

What a press release quote is actually for

The body of a release carries the facts: who, what, when, where, the numbers. A reporter can paraphrase all of that. The quote exists to add the one thing paraphrase cannot supply, which is a named person's judgement, reasoning or feeling.

So before you write a single word, answer this question: what does our spokesperson believe about this news that is not already in the paragraphs above? If the answer is "nothing," the quote will be filler no matter how well you polish it.

A useful test is to imagine the reporter reading only the quote, aloud, on a radio segment. Would it make sense? Would it tell the listener something? If it only works with the surrounding paragraph, it is doing the body's job.

Four kinds of quotes reporters actually use

Across the releases that earned coverage, the printed quotes fell into four patterns. Pick one per quote.

• The why. Explains the reason behind a decision. "We moved production to Valencia because 60 percent of our orders now ship within Spain, and we were paying to truck them back across the border."
• The stake. Says what changes for real people. "For a family in Murcia, this means a repair visit in two days instead of two weeks."
• The admission. Names a problem honestly. "Our old system frustrated customers, and the complaint numbers showed it."
• The view ahead. Gives a specific opinion about what comes next. "I expect half our clinics to offer evening hours by next spring."

Notice that each one includes a concrete detail: a city, a percentage, a time frame. Specifics are what make a quote sound like a person instead of a committee.

How to write the press release quote in five steps

1. Interview the spokesperson for ten minutes. Ask "Why does this matter to you?" and "What would you tell a friend about this?" Record it. Their spoken answers are almost always better raw material than anything drafted at a desk.
2. Pull the best sentence from the transcript. Look for a line with a reason or a number in it. Keep their wording where you can.
3. Cut it to 25 to 45 words. Two sentences is the sweet spot. Longer quotes get trimmed by editors, and they often trim the wrong part.
4. Attribute it cleanly. Full name and title on first mention, then "said." Not "stated," not "enthused," not "commented."
5. Read it aloud to the spokesperson. If they would not say it in an interview, rewrite it. A reporter may call them, and the quote should match how they actually talk.

Before and after examples

Here is how the same announcement reads with a typical quote and with a rewritten one.

The rewritten versions are not more polished. They are more useful. Each gives a reporter a line they can lift straight into a story.

The counter-take: one quote is usually better than three

A lot of agencies add a quote from every stakeholder: the CEO, the partner, the board chair, sometimes a customer. The logic is that it keeps everyone happy. In practice, it dilutes the release and makes each quote weaker.

Reporters pick one quote at most. When you hand them three, they pick the shortest, which is often the least important person's. Worse, internal politics tends to push every quote toward the same safe language, so you end up with three variations of "we are pleased."

My rule is one quote per release, two only when a partner is genuinely co-announcing and has something different to say. If the CEO insists on being included, make the CEO's quote the one with the real substance and leave the others out. You can offer additional spokespeople for interviews in the media contact section instead. That approach fits well with the advice in what a journalist actually wants from your pitch, where the same principle of giving less but better applies.

Common mistakes that get a quote cut

• Emotion words with no reason. "Thrilled," "proud," "excited." If you keep one, add why in the same sentence.
• Repeating the headline. If the quote restates the first paragraph, the editor deletes it as duplication.
• Jargon from the internal deck. "Synergies," "best in class," "holistic solution." No reader says these.
• A quote nobody approved. Never invent a quote and attribute it without sign-off. If the spokesperson later denies saying it, your credibility with that reporter is gone.

If the release is about bad news, the quote matters even more, because it is where the organisation either owns the problem or hides from it. Our guide to writing a statement before the story breaks covers how to handle that version under pressure.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a press release quote be?

Aim for 25 to 45 words, usually two sentences. That is long enough to carry a reason and a specific detail, and short enough that an editor can use it whole. Anything longer tends to be trimmed, often in the wrong place.

Can a PR team write the quote for an executive?

Yes, and most do, but it should start from the executive's own words and be approved by them before release. The best drafts come from a short recorded conversation. If the executive would not say the quote in a live interview, it needs rewriting.

Where should the quote go in a press release?

Place it in the second or third paragraph, right after the core facts are established. Putting it first forces the reader to guess the context, and putting it at the very end means many reporters never reach it.