Whenorganizing an event or launching a product, the press conference is an essential meeting that will give you the opportunity to communicate through the media and reach a large audience. Here we present the essential steps to organize a successful press conference.

Press conference: the advantage of interaction

Unlike a simple press release or press kit sent to the various communication bodies, the press conference offers the advantage of a direct meeting with the journalists. After your presentation, they may ask you questions or request clarification. This will allow them to refine their article or report, and thus provide the maximum information to their audience.

Organizing a press conference: the essential choice of date

The choice of the date and time of the press conference is essential to ensure that as many journalists as possible come to your meeting. Based on our expertise as anevent agency, we share with you some valuable tips to ensure that as many journalists as possible come to your press conference:

favour the beginning of the week, which is generally less saturated for journalists. However, avoid Monday mornings, which is usually the time of the weekly editorial team meeting.
Choose the morning to organize the press conference. The best time slot is considered to be from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Early afternoon is also possible.
Avoid school vacations as well as festive or animated periods in your region (festival, fair, etc.), as journalists will be less available.

Once you have chosen the date, consider sending an invitation to the media outlets at least three weeks before the day. Follow up with a telephone call one week and one day before the press conference.

Prepare a press kit

Prepare a press kit to give to the journalists when they arrive. In addition to being visually appealing, this document must contain essential information about the event or product. It must also contain the data of the person to be contacted.

If you are organizing an event, provide an access pass for journalists to encourage them to provide coverage. In the case of a product launch, include a sample that will allow for a test, for example. If you have digital files (images, sounds, videos…) to send, prefer the USB key or a QR Code that links to a cloud folder.

Autentik Events can help you prepare your press kit. We adapt the visual and editorial content of your file to the type of event and the target audience.

Organize a press conference: choose the right place

The choice of the place is crucial in the organization of a press conference. Here are the essential criteria to ensure a smooth appointment:

Accessibility: avoid places that are difficult to access for journalists, otherwise they will be discouraged;
equipment: the room hosting the press conference must allow journalists to connect and plug in. If TV media are invited, please provide space for cameras and lighting;
originality: the place must have character to mark the spirits and offer a neat visual rendering in video or photo. We can take care of the event decoration to bring character to the space. The objective is to highlight the philosophy of your event or product.

Useful tips for a successful press conference

Its success depends on small details that should not be overlooked. Here are the key points to consider when setting up your media appointment:

Fluency: prepare the different speeches at length. Schedule multiple sessions to simulate your conference. Hesitations and gaps can affect the quality of the interventions.
Mastery: show your audience that you know your subject perfectly. This will get journalists excited about your corporate event or your product. Avoid showing signs of nervousness and do not show that you are uncomfortable.
Moderation: the press conference is an exchange. The presence of a moderator is therefore required to ensure a fair distribution of the floor.
Catering: the journalists and the technical team that accompanies them are always on the move and do not necessarily have time to eat. A small snack after the press conference is always appreciated. This mark of attention will plead in your favor.

Autentik Events is an event agency in Paris that can take care of the organization of your press conference from A to Z or part of your meeting with journalists.

Follow up

There is more to organizing a press conference than just conducting it. Its follow-up is essential to optimize the coverage of the event. Indirectly solicit participating journalists by sending them high-resolution photos of the press conference.

When articles are published, do an annotated press review. For TV and radio broadcasts, podcasts are generally available on media platforms. Whenever possible, save them in the best format.

How to organize a press conference?