Before pitching, ask yourself, ‘So what?’

There are various ways to sell your story to a journalist. Before you open your mouth, one former reporter suggests considering that simple question and its three key components.

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Connecting with people in train stations or elevators satisfies us, and it can even render an invigorating adrenaline rush.

When engaging people in conversation, the pragmatic part of my brain always reminds me: “Darryl, don’t waste people’s time unless you have something amazing to share.”

Media practitioners should listen to their pragmatic inner voices, too, instead of constantly thinking their next story warrants a pitch.

As a former TV reporter, I’d often get pitches about “the biggest deal,” “the best product” or another “social cause.”

Though I am certain the PR pros behind these pitches had good intentions, they somehow didn’t recognize that as a busy journalist I probably had other things on my mind besides their “next big story.”

Good media relations professionals always do their best when pitching a client. Great media relations practitioners, however, realize that they should ask themselves this question before drafting a pitch: “So what?”

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