How to Explain Technical Products in a Press Release

Phase	What happens	Planning use
Before drafting	Pin down the news, the product’s value and the use case with the engineer	Decide what a reporter should cover before any copy exists
Translating the spec sheet	Swap jargon and hype for what the product does, and define the terms that must stay	Produces the plain wording the release reuses
Drafting the copy	Direct headline, news first, strongest facts in the first two paragraphs	Lets a skimming reporter reach the story early
Layering depth	Keep spec-sheet detail in a linked fact sheet and attach only what is requested	Keeps the release short without losing technical depth
Checking the draft	Test whether a journalist could write a short article without calling	Final gate before the release is sent

The phases follow eReleases’ guidance on making a release easier for journalists to use and advice from a BetaKit editor quoted by the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University.

Knowing how to write about technical products for journalists comes down to leading with the news, saying what the product does, defining unavoidable terms in plain English and keeping depth in a fact sheet.

The overall structure of a release is covered in the guide to tech press release format. This page deals only with the language of the technical content, from an engineer’s spec sheet to copy a non-specialist reporter can use.

Before drafting: find the news and the reader

A technical release starts with a conversation, not a draft. The spec sheet describes what a product is, while the release has to say what has happened and why a reader outside the field should care.

eReleases frames a press release as raw material, not a brochure, and notes that journalists skim. Both points shape the brief. The writer is supplying usable facts to a busy reader, not displaying every capability. The DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University reports that journalists expect the sender to explain why a product is valuable and how it differs from competitors. They also expect the sender to be explicit about which news or product the reporter should cover.

Questions to put to the engineer

1. Ask what is new and who is involved. The answer becomes the news sentence that opens the release.
2. Ask why the product is valuable. Ask also how it differs from competing products, because a reporter will look for that comparison.
3. Ask what a person actually does with it. Walk through the task in everyday terms. That description is the use case, and it is usually clearer than any feature list.
4. Mark every term an outsider would not recognise. These terms go into the translation step that follows.

Translating the spec sheet into plain language

Jargon should be cut when it only signals importance and defined when the reader needs it to understand the product. That distinction answers the question of which terms to remove from a tech release and which to explain.

eReleases offers a direct example: instead of “revolutionary platform,” say what the platform does. Its broader point is that reporters can use facts but usually cannot use hype. The same guidance asks for a plain-English explanation of technical terms inside the release itself, so a reporter does not have to look them up or phone for help.

Use the table as a working checklist when reviewing an engineer’s wording line by line.

Spec-sheet or hype wording	Plain-language replacement	Planning use
“Revolutionary platform”	A sentence saying what the platform does and for whom	Replaces a claim a reporter cannot print with a fact they can
Internal feature or component name	What a person can do with it, described as a use case	Gives the reporter a scene, not a label
Technical term the story needs	The term plus a plain-English definition in the same paragraph	Stops the reporter needing a call to decode it
Unattributed superlative	An attributed claim with full name, title, spelled-out date and location	Makes the statement verifiable
Product capability list	The one capability tied to the news, with the rest left for the fact sheet	Keeps the first paragraphs focused

The first, third and fourth rows follow eReleases’ guidance for journalist-friendly releases; the use-case and fact-sheet rows are editorial judgements built on it.

Deciding whether to cut, define or move

• Cut adjectives that claim importance without proof. Replace them with what the product does.
• Define any term the story cannot do without. A short clause in plain English is usually enough.
• Move component-level detail that only a specialist would check. It belongs in the fact sheet, not the body of the release.

Drafting the release copy

The draft should lead with the news and keep company background for later. eReleases says the first two paragraphs should carry the weight of the release, so the product’s plain-language description and its use case belong there.

1. Write a direct headline. eReleases describes a usable headline as one that states what happened, naming the company, the action, the location and the reason.
2. Open with the news sentence from the engineer interview. Answer what happened and who is involved before any background.
3. Describe the product by its use case. Say what a person does with it, then add the one differentiator that matters.
4. Define each necessary term where it first appears. Use plain English and keep the definition short.
5. Place the key number high. eReleases warns against burying a fact such as the company adding 42 jobs in paragraph seven.
6. Attribute claims and make facts checkable. Use full names and titles, spell out dates and include locations.
7. Add the practical details. Include media contact, boilerplate, photo link and, where relevant, product availability and pricing.

Quotes can carry the human explanation of why the product matters, but they need their own craft. The guide on how to write a quote for a press release covers that step.

Layering depth in a fact sheet

The release should hold the news, the plain-language explanation and the practical details, while a linked fact sheet should hold the specification depth. The release answers what a reporter needs to decide whether to write. The fact sheet answers what a reporter who has decided to write might need to check.

• In the release: the news, the use case, any plain-English definitions, availability, pricing when relevant and contact details.
• In the fact sheet: the specification detail, referenced by a single link from the release.
• A link keeps the email light and still gives the reporter somewhere to go.

The same discipline applies to the pitch email that carries the release. A BetaKit editor quoted by the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University suggests three paragraphs for a simple pitch. For the release itself, the guide on how long should a press release be covers length.

Checking the draft before sending

The most useful readability test is whether a journalist could write a short article from the release without calling the sender first. eReleases poses exactly that question as the check before sending.

1. Skim the draft as a reporter would. If the news and the product’s purpose are not clear from the opening, rewrite the opening.
2. Circle every term a non-specialist might stumble on. Define it, replace it or move it to the fact sheet.
3. Look for unattributed claims. Each one needs a named source, or it needs to go.
4. Confirm names, titles, dates and locations. They should be spelled out in full.
5. Apply the no-call test. If a reporter would still have to phone to understand the product, the explanation is incomplete.

Many newsrooms use AP style as a common editing standard, so following it where practical reduces the editing a reporter has to do.

Common problems and fixes

• The copy reads like a brochure. Remove claims of importance and replace them with what the product does.
• The key number sits low in the text. Move it into the opening paragraphs.
• The reporter still needs a call. Add the missing plain-English definition or the missing use case.
• The email feels heavy. Replace attachments with a link to the fact sheet unless a reporter asked for the files.

Frequently asked questions

How many paragraphs should a simple pitch to a journalist have?

A BetaKit editor quoted by the DMZ at Toronto Metropolitan University recommends writing three paragraphs when the pitch is simple.

Is AP style required for a tech press release?

Not by any rule in the guidance, but eReleases notes that many newsrooms use AP style as a common editing standard, so it is a sensible default.

Should a release say who the product is for?

Yes. According to the DMZ, journalists expect an explanation of why the product is valuable and what market it targets, so the intended audience belongs in the opening paragraphs.