What You'll Need
Block out one afternoon. Most of the work is prep, not writing.
Time: about 3 to 4 hours total for the first release. That covers reading, a 10-minute CEO call, drafting, and one round of edits. Your next release will take under an hour, since the groundwork is done.
The draft release: headline, lead, and body paragraphs with a blank spot where the quote will go. You can't write a quote that does a job until you know the job.
Your CEO's own words: past emails, Slack threads, call notes, conference talks, or podcast transcripts. Real phrasing beats anything you invent.
Three to five published quotes from your niche: pulled from releases that got picked up. Mark which sentences editors kept (and which they cut).
A recorder: your phone's voice memo app works. So does a call tool with transcripts.
One hard fact or number: a customer count, a percentage, a dollar figure, a date. If you don't have one, get one before you draft. The quote needs it.
A fact-check source: the exact spelling of your CEO's name, their current title, and the company name as it appears on your site.
A second voice (optional): a partner, customer, or outside expert who can approve a short quote of their own.
Skills: basic interviewing, plain editing, and the nerve to cut an adjective. No PR degree needed.
One more thing. Decide your approval deadline now, before you send anything. A CEO who hates being quoted will let an open-ended request sit for weeks.
Editors cut the quote first. Not the boilerplate, not the dateline. The quote. When a CEO's line reads like a brochure, it's gone before the second paragraph, and the link you built the release around goes with it.
That's why press release quote writing tips matter more than most in-house teams admit. A quote is the one spot in a release where a human voice is supposed to show up, and it's also the spot most likely to be stuffed with "excited to announce" and "industry-leading." Wire editors have read that sentence ten thousand times. They don't keep it.
Now add the harder problem. Your CEO hates being quoted. Maybe they think they sound stiff. Maybe a past release put words in their mouth that they'd never say (and they haven't forgotten it). Maybe they just don't want to be pinned to a claim. So the draft sits in their inbox for a week, and the news goes stale.
If you've paid an agency for releases before, you already know how this usually goes. Somebody on their side invents a quote, your CEO skims it, and everyone hopes for the best. Writing in-house means you can't do that. You need a quote your CEO will actually sign off on, one that holds a concrete claim, and one that survives a copy desk and several hundred syndicated copies.
It's a fixable problem. It takes a short interview, one specific number — a few edits that a former wire editor would make in about thirty seconds. Here's how to do it, step by step.
What You'll Get Done and What You Need Before You Start
A comms manager sends a draft release to her CEO at 9 a.m. By noon it's back. Every quote is crossed out, and one note says, "I don't talk like this." He's right, too. Nobody talks like that. That's the problem these press release quote writing tips fix.
The finished result: a press release quote your CEO approves and editors keep
The goal is one quote, two or three sentences long. It needs a concrete claim, a number or a named fact, and a voice your CEO would recognize as his own. No adjectives doing the heavy lifting.
Two people have to say yes. The CEO signs off because it sounds like him. An editor keeps it because it says something the rest of the release doesn't. Miss either one and the quote gets cut.
Materials to gather: CEO's past emails, call notes, the draft release, and three published quotes from your niche
Collect these before you write a single word of the quote:
Past emails. Look for how he phrases opinions when nobody's polishing them. Short, blunt lines are gold.
Call notes. Ten minutes of his real talk beats an hour of guessing at his tone.
The draft release. The quote shouldn't repeat the headline. It should add what the facts can't.
Three published quotes from your niche. Pull them from releases that got picked up. Note which ones carry a number and which ones are fluff.
Got all four? Good. Now you can start.
Step 1: Figure Out Why Your CEO Hates Being Quoted
Reluctant executives aren't being difficult. They have reasons, and most fall into three buckets. Name the right one before you touch a draft, because the fix for each is different. Good press release quote writing tips start with diagnosis, not formatting.
Fear of sounding stiff or salesy
Most CEOs have read a quote like "We're thrilled to announce a best-in-class solution." They don't want their name on that. Ask them to say the point out loud, then write down what they actually said. Spoken sentences beat polished ones. A concrete claim with a number reads as confident, not salesy.
Fear of being held to a claim
A quote is a public record — journalists do quote it back. So the worry is fair. The remedy is to attach every claim to something checkable, like a count, a date, or a named result. Specific is safer than superlative, since a measured figure can't be accused of hype.
Past quotes that were rewritten without approval
Here's the one people skip. If a previous agency stuffed words in the CEO's mouth, distrust is earned. Fix it with a written rule: nothing goes out without a signed-off final version. Even a release built for tiered link building needs that approval step, because the quote is the part readers remember.
Which of the three sounds like your CEO? Ask. Ten minutes of straight talk saves five rounds of edits.
Step 2: Read Ten Real Releases and Mark the Quotes Editors Kept
Want to know what a skeptical editor will actually keep from your CEO? Stop guessing and go read the evidence. Pull ten real releases in your niche, then look at which quotes survived into the coverage.
Here's the method. It takes about an hour.
Collect ten releases from your industry. Pick ones that earned pickup, not ones that sat on a wire untouched.
Find each quote and copy the exact sentence into a sheet.
Check the coverage. Did a reporter lift the quote, trim it, or drop it?
Mark the pattern. Note the format, the length, and whether it held a number or a claim.
You'll see it fast. Quotes with a concrete claim get kept. Quotes full of adjectives get cut (every time, in my experience).
Sorting ten releases by hand is tedious — the pattern is worth it. If you run pickup tracking alongside other link work, an automatic link building tool can keep that research sheet tied to the campaign it feeds.
What to Flag in Your Sheet
Quotes under 30 words
A specific figure or date inside the sentence
A speaker who states a position instead of a pleasantry
Those marked lines become your template for Step 3.
Step 3: Decide What the Quote Has to Do Inside the Release
Across 175 press releases and 100,566 recorded pickup links, every release reached at least 321 outlets. That's 321 places where the same quote text appears word for word. A filler line gets published hundreds of times. Most press release quote writing tips skip this point, and it matters most for a CEO who'd rather not speak at all.
Quotes that add a claim versus quotes that repeat the headline
Take the headline "Company Launches Faster Reporting Tool." A quote reading "We're thrilled to launch our new tool" adds nothing. The reader already knows. A quote reading "Reports that took our team two days now take 40 minutes" adds a claim an editor can check.
Before drafting, test every line:
Does it contain a number, a named cause, or a position? If not, cut it.
Could it sit under a competitor's headline? If yes, rewrite it.
Would the CEO defend it out loud? A reluctant speaker can stand behind one concrete fact far more easily than a paragraph of praise.
That last test is the shortcut. Short, factual quotes take ten seconds to approve.
Where the quote sits in the release body and why position matters
Place the quote after the second paragraph, once the news and its proof are already stated. Opening with it buries the facts. Leaving it last makes it easy to trim.
Position affects reuse, too. Editors lift the first quote they meet, and readers share it in social media mentions without the surrounding copy. So the line has to make sense alone, with the speaker's full name and title attached.
Step 4: Interview Your CEO in Ten Minutes Instead of Asking Them to Write
Handing a reluctant CEO a blank page is the worst move in press release quote writing tips. They'll stall, then send back something stiff. The better route is a ten-minute call where you do the asking and they just talk.
Five questions that pull out a concrete claim
Skip "What are you excited about?" That gets adjectives. Ask these instead:
What changed? Get the before and after in one sentence.
What's the number? Percent, dollars, days, count.
Who does this help first? A named type of customer beats "clients."
What did people assume wrongly? Contrarian lines get quoted.
What happens next? A date or a milestone.
Short and direct. Nobody needs a prep deck.
How to record the call and pull the usable sentence
Record it. Always. Tell the CEO it's for accuracy, not for a transcript they'll have to read.
Afterward, scan the transcript for the one sentence with a claim inside it. Look for a figure, a verb — a person or group. Trim the start ("So, basically, what we found was") and keep the spoken rhythm. Then send it back for a yes or no, not an edit round.
Got a good line? Test it cold. Would it hold up as a standalone post, like the mentions on social media your release will spark once journalists lift it? If it needs the paragraph around it to make sense, pull a different sentence.
Step 5: Draft the Quote Around One Specific Number or Fact
A CEO sits down with a draft that reads, "We're thrilled to launch our groundbreaking platform." She crosses it out. Says nothing. Then she types: "Our customers cut link-prospecting time from nine hours a week to two." She signs off in ten seconds.
That's the pattern. Anchor the quote to one number or fact, and a reluctant executive stops fighting it. These press release quote writing tips work because a claim is easy to defend and an adjective isn't.
Swap adjectives for measurable claims
Editors cut adjectives first. A number survives. Pick one, and only one, from the release body.
Weak: "a huge jump in coverage"
Strong: "coverage went from 40 outlets to 312"
Check the figure against your own records before the CEO sees it. Did it happen, and can you prove it? Good. That's your quote. Pair it with article syndication reports or any pickup log that lists live URLs, and the claim holds up when a journalist checks.
Write the sentence in how your CEO actually talks, with contractions
Listen to a call recording. Then write what you heard. Real people say "we didn't expect it" — "that's what moved rankings." They don't say "we did not anticipate the outcome."
Read the draft out loud.
Replace every stiff phrase with a contraction.
Cut any word your CEO wouldn't say at lunch.
One sentence. One number. Their voice.
Step 6: Cut the Filler Phrases Editors Delete on Sight
Filler kills quotes. An editor sees "we're thrilled to announce" and the sentence is gone before the next line gets read. Good press release quote writing tips start with this rule: if a phrase could sit in any company's release, cut it.
Here's what gets deleted every time:
"We're excited to..." or "proud to..." (feelings aren't news)
"Industry-leading" and "best-in-class" (no proof attached)
"Committed to delivering value" (committed to what, exactly?)
"This announcement reflects our vision" (it reflects nothing)
A reluctant CEO actually helps here. Someone who hates being quoted usually hates the fluff too, so offer a trade: fewer words, each one load-bearing.
Run a simple test on every sentence. Delete the first clause. Does the quote still carry a claim? If not, the clause was padding. Swap "We're pleased to report strong growth" for "Orders tripled in 90 days after we dropped the setup fee." Same person, same voice, one concrete number.
Then check the format of the whole release. Filler-free copy travels better when it's republished word for word, which is exactly what happens with blog syndication. Every copy carries your text as written, so a soft sentence gets duplicated across hundreds of sites.
Short version? Cut it. Then cut once more.
Step 7: Attribute the Quote Correctly With Name, Title, and Company
Who actually said it, and can a reporter verify that in five seconds? That's the test every attribution has to pass. Weak attribution gets a release cut before the quote is even read.
Attribution formatting and punctuation conventions
Keep the format boring. Boring gets published. Use full name, exact title, company. Nothing more.
Good: "We cut onboarding from nine days to two," said Dana Ruiz, chief executive of Acme Corp.
Weak: said Dana Ruiz, a visionary leader at a leading provider.
Put the comma inside the closing quotation mark. Use "said," not "stated" or "commented." Wire editors strip the fancy verbs anyway. If your CEO hates being quoted, this is where a short, plain attribution helps — it reads like fact, not a speech.
Paragraph placement and the first-mention versus second-mention rule
Place the quote directly after the sentence it supports. Never stack it in the opening paragraph. Fragments like this one belong in the body.
First mention gets the full name and title. Second mention gets the last name only. Skip the title the second time.
Distribution matters here too. A clean release that reaches real outlets is worth little if nobody links back, and a PBN backlinks service is a separate tier from press pickup, so don't confuse the two jobs. Fix the attribution first. Then worry about where the release goes.
Step 8: Keep the Quote Short Enough to Survive Editing
Most editors cut a press release quote down to one or two sentences. That's the usual fate of a 70-word paragraph from a CEO. Trim it yourself first, or someone else will do it badly.
These press release quote writing tips matter most with a reluctant executive, because a short line is easier to approve. A CEO who hates being quoted will sign off on 25 words far faster than on 80.
Length targets for a single quote and for the full release
Aim for 20 to 35 words per quote, which is roughly two sentences. Keep the whole release between 300 and 500 words. Quotes should fill no more than a quarter of that text.
One quote: 20 to 35 words, one concrete claim.
Full release: 300 to 500 words, two quotes at most.
Sentence length: under 20 words, so nothing gets cut mid-thought.
Put the claim in the first sentence.
If an editor keeps only that, the quote still works.
When to use two short quotes instead of one long one
Split when the CEO has two separate points. A single 60-word quote invites cuts. Two 25-word quotes, each with its own direct claim, give editors something to keep.
Give the first quote to the CEO for the company's news.
Give the second to a customer or a technical lead for proof.
Place them apart, with a paragraph of facts between them.
Never stack both together. That reads as a block of talk, and the editor loses the gap that makes each one stand out.
Step 9: Write a Second Quote for a Partner, Customer, or Expert
A second quote isn't padding. Most editors treat a release with one executive voice as a press statement, and they cut it fast. A second voice from outside the company is what makes the copy read like news.
Apply these press release quote writing tips to the second speaker, and the CEO who hates being quoted gets a lot less exposure to begin with. Here's the working method:
Pick the right voice. Choose a customer who used the product, a partner who shipped alongside you, or an outside expert who can judge the claim.
Assign a different job. The CEO quote gives the company's direction. The second quote gives proof, a result, or an outside opinion.
Demand one concrete claim. A number, a timeframe, or a named outcome. "Cut onboarding from nine days to three" beats "a great experience."
Get written approval. Draft the text yourself, send it, and let the speaker edit the wording.
Keep the Two Quotes Distinct
Don't let both speakers say the same thing in different words. Read the two side by side. If you can swap them, rewrite one.
Attribute each one with a full name, title, and company.
Skip stacked adjectives. A quote a reporter can lift directly into a story is the goal, and a flat, specific sentence does that best.
Step 10: Match the Quote to the Story Type
A founder sends a funding release to an editor, and the quote reads: "We're thrilled to announce this exciting milestone." The editor cuts it in four seconds. Same round, same CEO, different quote: "The money goes to doubling our support team by March." That one survives. The story type decides which claim belongs in the quote.
Product launch, funding, partnership, and data-study quotes compared
Product launch: name the problem the product fixes, in the customer's words.
Funding: state what the money buys and by when.
Partnership: say what each side can do now that neither could alone.
Data study: explain what surprised the team. Don't restate the number.
Pick one claim per quote. Two dilute the pull.
Example quotes for each, before and after editing
Launch, before: "Our innovative platform delivers great value."
After: "Agencies kept asking us for one report their clients could open without a login. So we built it."
Funding, before: "This investment validates our vision."
After: "We'll hire 12 engineers by March and open the API to every customer."
Partnership, before: "We're excited about this synergy."
After: "Their shipping data plus our forecasting means stockouts drop before the holiday rush."
Data study, before: "The findings are very insightful."
After: "We expected speed to win. Trust signals beat it in 7 of 10 tests."
Every press release quote writing tips checklist ends the same way: a concrete claim beats a polished adjective.
Step 11: Place the Link Naturally Around the Quote Without Stuffing It
A quote is not a billboard. Wire editors cut any sentence that reads like an ad, and a link jammed into a CEO's mouth is the first thing to go.
Why the quote should support the anchor, not carry it
Good press release quote writing tips all point the same way. The quote supplies a claim, and the link sits in the sentence next to it. A reluctant CEO's two-line quote about a 40 percent drop in onboarding time earns attention. Stuff a keyword phrase into that same quote and the voice dies, which an editor spots in seconds.
Keep the quote to one concrete claim.
Put the anchor in the attribution or the sentence after it.
Use a descriptive anchor, never an exact-match keyword repeated twice.
Brand name and URL placement that editors won't strip
Editors strip promotional formatting, not facts. Write the brand name once, in plain text, inside the first paragraph. Then link it once in the body, not in the quote block itself.
Name the company and the person in the attribution: said Dana Reyes, CEO of Example Co.
Link the brand name or a short descriptive phrase in the paragraph that follows.
Spell out the bare URL in the boilerplate at the bottom.
That's it. One link near the quote, one in the boilerplate. Anything more gets trimmed, and so does the pickup you were after.
Step 12: Send the Draft to Your CEO in a Way That Gets a Fast Yes
Why do executives who sit through hour-long board meetings stall on a two-sentence quote? Usually because the email made them do the work. Good press release quote writing tips don't stop at the draft. They cover how it lands in the inbox.
Offer two options, not a blank page
A blank reply box invites rewriting. Two finished options invite a pick. Write one version that's direct and number-led, and one that's softer and leans on the company's voice. Keep each to two sentences.
Option A: "We cut onboarding from 14 days to 3, and customers noticed in the first week."
Option B: "Faster onboarding was the top request we heard all year, so we rebuilt the process around it."
Put both in the email body, not an attachment. Attachments get skipped. Add one line on the format: the quote sits in the third paragraph, attributed by name and title.
Set a clear approval deadline
Open-ended requests sit for weeks. A dated ask doesn't.
State the release date and the cutoff, such as "Reply by Thursday 3 p.m. so we can publish Friday."
Say what silence means: "No reply means we go with Option A."
Send a one-line reminder 24 hours before the cutoff.
That default matters. Most CEOs who hate being quoted will pick the shorter option just to end the thread. Fine. Take the fast yes.
Step 13: Handle Edits and Pushback Without Losing the Concrete Claim
Roughly nine out of ten quote edits from a nervous executive are subtractions, and the first thing to go is the number. That's the pattern worth planning around. Most press release quote writing tips stop at the draft. This step covers what happens after the CEO gets hold of it.
Here's the rule: protect the claim, trade the wrapper. A CEO who says "too boastful" is usually reacting to the adjectives. Keep the fact, cut the flourish.
Ask what bothers them. Tone? Accuracy? Legal exposure? Each has a different fix.
Offer a second version with the same figure in plainer voice. "We're thrilled" dies. "Our median order placed on 213 sites" survives.
Verify the number together. Once they've checked it, they'll defend it.
Let them change the sentence structure but not the claim itself.
But what if they insist on a vague line anyway?
Then cut the quote to one sentence and move the fact into the body copy, where it can stand without a named speaker. An editor will read a short quote with a real figure over a long one with none.
Don't fight over commas. Fight over the noun that carries the proof.
Step 14: Run a Final Check Before You Submit the Release
A quote that got approved is not a quote that's ready. Plenty of people assume sign-off from the CEO ends the job. It doesn't. Approval covers intent, not accuracy, and a wire desk will still catch the slip.
Treat this last pass as the point where the press release quote writing tips you've applied either hold up or fall apart.
Read the quote aloud
Do it slowly, at speaking pace. If you stumble, the CEO will too, and an editor will spot the stiff phrasing just as fast. Listen for these problems:
Brochure language. Cut any sentence a person wouldn't say across a table.
Long, winding sentences. Split them. One idea per sentence.
Adjectives doing the work of a claim. Swap "exciting, game-ready growth" for a number.
Then ask the CEO to read it too. Two minutes. If they'd never say it, rewrite it.
Verify every fact, number, and title against source material
Open the source documents next to the draft. Check each item one by one:
Name spelling, exactly as the person uses it.
Job title, matched to the current company page, not last year's deck.
Every figure, percentage, and date in the quote and the paragraph around it.
Any claim about customers, awards, or coverage, traced to a real record.
A wrong title is the most common error, and the cheapest to fix. Fix it before submission, because corrections after distribution cost far more than two minutes of checking.
Troubleshooting: Common Quote Mistakes and How to Fix Each One
The quote reads like a brochure
A founder approves a draft containing, "We're delighted to announce a great new service for our customers." The wire editor reads it in two seconds — moves on. Nothing in it could be checked.
Fix it by swapping every adjective for a claim. Rewrite it as, "Onboarding dropped from 14 days to 3 after we rebuilt the intake form." That single change is the most useful of all press release quote writing tips, because a number gives an editor something to cite.
The CEO rewrites it back into jargon
And this is where most drafts die.
The CEO sends back a redline that turns "we cut costs" into "we optimized operational expenditure."
Don't argue about style. Argue about pickup. Try this:
Show the CEO two quotes side by side, one plain, one padded.
Ask which one they'd say out loud to a reporter.
Keep their own spoken phrasing (record a five-minute call if needed).
Lock the core claim, and let them adjust only tone.
The quote gets cut from syndicated copies
Feed sites trim releases from the bottom. A quote buried in paragraph seven often vanishes. Every copy should still carry it, so what's the fix?
Place the quote in the second or third paragraph.
Keep it to two sentences, since long quotes get chopped.
Put the claim first, the attribution after.
Check the pickup report afterward.
If the quote is missing on live URLs, move it higher in the next release.
How to Verify Your Quote Worked: Reading the Pickup Report
A quote that nobody repeats didn't work. The pickup report is where you find out, and it doesn't flatter anyone.
Every release on Profit Labs™ returns a report listing each live URL. Expect at least 321 outlets, around 490 typically. Most of those are financial-syndication feed sites, so don't expect 490 writers to have read your CEO's words. Expect the feed to carry them.
What to look for in live URLs and how quotes appear on syndicated pages
Open a sample of twenty URLs. Not two. Then check three things:
Placement. Does the quote sit in the body, unchanged, or was it trimmed?
Attribution. Is the speaker's name and title intact after the quote?
Claim survival. Is the concrete number still there? If the trimmed version keeps only the adjectives, that's a rewrite problem.
Syndicated pages usually copy the release whole. Direct, specific quotes survive that copying. Vague ones get cut first, which is exactly why this kind of press release quote writing tips advice stresses one hard claim per sentence.
Next steps: build a reusable quote bank for future releases
Do this while the report is fresh.
Save every quote that appeared verbatim, with the release topic.
Mark the ones a reporter or feed trimmed, and note what got cut.
Log the CEO's approved phrasing, so the next draft starts from words they've already signed off on.
A reluctant CEO approves faster when you show them their own line, live, on real pages.
How-To FAQ
How long does it take to get a quote from a CEO who hates being quoted?
Plan on 10 minutes for the call and about 30 minutes of drafting and cleanup on your end. The slow part is rarely the writing. It's waiting on approval, so send two options and set a deadline the same day you send the draft.
Should I write the quote myself and just put the CEO's name on it?
Yes, you can draft it — the CEO has to approve every word before it goes out. Ghost-drafting is normal in press releases. Publishing a quote the named person never saw is how you end up with a CEO who refuses to be quoted again (and possibly a correction request).
How long should a press release quote be?
Keep a single quote to one or two sentences, roughly 25 to 40 words. Anything longer gets trimmed by an editor, and they'll usually cut the part with your concrete claim last only if it's the first sentence. So lead with it.
What do I do if my CEO keeps rewriting the quote into jargon?
Show them the before and after side by side and ask which one they'd say out loud. Then keep the number or fact fixed and let them change only the wording around it. Most CEOs will give up the adjectives faster than they'll give up a figure they're proud of.
Can I use a quote from someone other than the CEO?
Yes, and it often works better. A customer, partner, or outside expert can carry a claim the CEO can't make without sounding self-promotional. Use the same rules: one specific fact, plain speech, full name and title.
How do I know my quote survived distribution?
Open the pickup report and check the live URLs. Scan a handful of syndicated pages for the quote text and attribution. If it's missing from several, the quote was likely too long or sat too low in the release, so shorten it and move it up next time.
Difficulty: Easy once you have the interview script.
Time: About 40 minutes per release, plus approval wait.
Risk: Publishing an unapproved or unverified claim. Always get sign-off in writing.
A CEO who hates being quoted isn't a roadblock. It's a briefing problem. Most executives don't object to the quote itself. They object to sounding stiff, getting pinned to a vague claim, or finding their words rewritten without a heads-up.
The fix is the same each time. Interview instead of asking for a draft, build the sentence around one number or fact, and hand over two short options with a deadline. Editors keep quotes that say something the headline doesn't, and executives approve quotes that sound like them. Those two goals rarely conflict once the claim is concrete.
These press release quote writing tips also pay off after the release goes out. A quote with a real claim is the line most likely to survive on syndicated pages, which means it shows up in the pickup report where a skeptical client can check it.
So pick one release already in your queue. Schedule a ten-minute call with your CEO this week, record it, and pull a single sentence with a number in it. Then open Profit Labs™, send that release out, and check the live URLs in the report to see which quotes held up.
