Three Reference Files That Fix Junior Press Release Quality
By Gabriel Tan | April 2026
The problem with juniors writing press releases using AI is not speed. They are already fast. The problem is that the output sounds like AI wrote it.
You can spot it within two sentences. Em dashes between every clause. Words no practitioner would choose ("spearheaded," "underscored," "bolstered"). Trailing phrases that add nothing ("reflecting the company's continued commitment to growth"). Bullet points that repeat the headline in slightly different words. Uniform sentence length that reads like a metronome.
The senior opens the draft, realises it needs a full rewrite, and spends 45 minutes doing the junior's job. The junior learns nothing because the feedback is "this doesn't sound right," which is too vague to act on. Next press release, same cycle.
Telling the junior to "make it sound more human" does not fix this. It is not a clear enough instruction. The junior does not know what "human" means in the context of this client, this format, and this firm's editorial standard. They need a reference for what right looks like, specific enough that they (and the AI they are using) can follow it.
The fix is three reference files, combined into one SOP markdown that the junior loads into their AI project and runs step by step. Here is what goes into each one and how to build them.
Reference file 1: the client brand voice guide
This file defines how one specific client should sound in writing. Not your firm's voice. The client's voice.
To build it, pull five to seven recent documents that the client approved without major edits. Press releases, presentations, corporate announcements, website copy. Read them looking for patterns in four areas.
Terminology. What words does this client use to describe their business, their market, and their products? What words do they avoid? Some clients say "customers." Others say "clients." Some say "revenue growth." Others say "top-line improvement." Note the preferences. If the client operates in a regulated industry, note terms that are restricted or required. Write these down as a simple two-column list: use this, not that.
Tone by audience. A press release going to business media reads differently from one going to trade media or a consumer publication. Note how the client's tone shifts across contexts. Some clients are formal in all contexts. Others are more conversational in trade media and more measured in corporate communications. Capture the range.
Self-reference. How does the client refer to themselves? Full company name on first mention, abbreviated after? Does the CEO use first person in quotes or speak about the company in third person? Is there a standard descriptor the company uses?
Restricted language. Are there phrases the client has asked you not to use? Terms that a previous press release used that drew a correction? Legal or compliance restrictions? These are easy to miss and expensive to get wrong. Write them down.
One page is enough. The goal is not a 20-page branding manual. It is a working reference that the junior can load into AI and prompt against.
Reference file 2: the press release writing guideline
This file defines the structure and editorial standard for press releases at your firm. It applies across clients, with the brand voice guide handling client-specific adjustments.
To build it, look at how your best press releases are structured. If your firm has a senior editor or an editorial authority whose judgment sets the standard, reverse-engineer their preferences. What do they fix most often in junior drafts? Those corrections are your rules.
The areas to cover:
Header. A good headline reads like something a journalist would write for the target publication. If your client is pitching to lifestyle media, study how lifestyle publications write their headlines. If the client is pitching to business media, study broadsheet headline conventions. The header should match the editorial style of the outlet it is aimed at, not sound like corporate copy.
Subheadlines. Different industries and different firms use different standards. Some press releases carry one subheadline that summarises the key message. Others use three subheadlines that break out the primary driver, the secondary driver, and the outlook. Look at what is standard in your industry and for your clients. Pick one convention and make it your firm's default. If a client's industry expects a different format, note that in their brand voice guide.
Lead paragraph. How does the first paragraph relate to the header and subheadlines? A standard approach: sentence one restates the header with additional detail, sentences two and three expand on the first one or two subheadlines.
Main body. Every paragraph should connect back to the header message. Information that does not support the story stays out. The press release is not the company announcement. It delivers a message. If a paragraph does not serve the header, cut it.
Executive quote. How long? What should it contain? A useful standard: three sentences maximum. The quote should provide insight that the reader cannot get from the data alone, or address a sensitive issue like outlook. Where possible, the quote should say something about the future. Never waste the quote on a self-congratulatory statement that adds no information.
Write it down as a guideline the junior can follow before they start drafting. The more specific the rules, the less the senior has to correct later.
Reference file 3: the anti-AI checklist
This file catches the patterns that make AI-assisted drafts sound generated. It is the QA layer between the first draft and what the senior sees.
Here are the checks that catch the most common problems.
Trailing participle phrases. Any sentence that ends with an "-ing" phrase that interprets the preceding fact. "Revenue increased 15%, reflecting the company's strong market position." Fix: "Revenue increased 15%." Delete the trailing phrase. If the interpretation matters, make it a separate sentence with a specific detail.
Em dash overuse. AI defaults to em dashes for parenthetical asides, lists, and emphasis. Count them. Maximum one per 500 words in any document. Replace the rest with commas, colons, or full stops.
Banned vocabulary. Words that AI reaches for but practitioners do not: "spearheaded," "bolstered," "underscored," "pivotal," "robust," "holistic." Keep a list. When the junior runs the draft through this check, any word on the list gets replaced with a shorter, plainer alternative.
Promotional adjectives used as opinions. This depends on industry context. In lifestyle and consumer PR, a degree of promotional language is standard. In data-heavy sectors where readers judge performance by numbers, promotional adjectives insult the reader's intelligence. "Strong growth of 2%" tells the reader you think they cannot judge for themselves. Let the numbers speak. If the growth is 15%, write "15% growth." The reader decides whether it is strong. Know your industry's tolerance for promotional language and set the rule accordingly in your checklist.
Uniform sentence length. Read the draft aloud. If every sentence is roughly the same length, it sounds generated. Short sentence after a long one. A two-sentence paragraph after a four-sentence one. Variation is what makes writing sound like a person wrote it.
Negative parallelisms. "Not just a provider, but a partner." "Not only did revenue grow, but margins expanded." These constructions appear in almost every AI draft. Cut them. Make one clear statement.
Synonym rotation. If the same person or concept is referred to by three different terms in one paragraph ("the company," "the group," "the leading provider"), pick one and repeat it. Humans repeat words. AI rotates synonyms to sound varied. The rotation is the tell.
Write the checklist as a simple list of find-and-fix instructions.
Combining the three files into one SOP
The three files work together but the junior should not manage them as separate documents. Combine them into a single SOP markdown file.
Structure the SOP in the order the junior uses it:
Section 1: Client brand voice guide. The junior reads this before writing anything. It sets the terminology, tone, and restrictions for this specific client.
Section 2: Press release writing guideline. The junior follows this while drafting. It defines the structure: header, subheadlines, lead paragraph, main body, executive quote.
Section 3: Anti-AI checklist. The junior runs this after drafting. It catches the patterns that make the draft sound generated.
Section 4: QA checklist. This is the final gate before the draft goes to the senior. The junior works through each item and confirms it is done. The QA checklist covers: dates verified, names verified (including transliterated names), figures verified (including charts, tables, and any data referenced in the text), currency units correct, spelling checked, grammar checked, header matches the publication's editorial style, subheadlines follow the firm's standard, lead paragraph restates the header with additional detail, main body supports the header and subheadlines only (no off-message content), executive quote is three sentences maximum with forward-looking content, no promotional adjectives used as opinions (adjusted for industry context), anti-AI checklist completed with all flags resolved.
The junior does not send the draft to the senior until every item on the QA checklist is confirmed. The QA checklist is not optional. It is the last section of the SOP and the senior should be able to see that it was completed.
The junior loads the full SOP into their AI project. When they draft a press release, they prompt the AI to run through the SOP step by step. Brand voice first (catches terminology and tone errors), writing guideline second (catches structural problems), anti-AI checklist third (catches generated-sounding patterns), QA checklist fourth (catches factual and formatting errors).
By the time the senior sees the draft, it already reads like the client's voice, follows the firm's editorial structure, does not carry the markers that experienced readers associate with generated text, and has been verified for factual accuracy. The senior's review becomes a judgment call on messaging and positioning, not a line edit on language.
What the junior learns from using the SOP
The original goal was to fix draft quality. The side effect was that juniors started learning.
Running drafts through the anti-AI checklist repeatedly taught them what to watch for. After a few weeks, their unassisted writing improved because they had internalised the patterns. The checklist was not just a QA tool. It was a training mechanism. The junior who runs 20 drafts through a checklist that says "delete trailing participle phrases" stops writing trailing participle phrases.
The same applied to the brand voice guide. Juniors who drafted against a specific client's terminology and tone preferences for several weeks started making those choices without checking the file. The reference file trains the person using it.
The QA checklist had the same effect. Juniors who verified names, figures, and currency units 20 times in a row started catching those errors during drafting rather than in the QA step. The checklist trained the discipline of accuracy before the draft leaves their hands.
The SOP is doing two jobs at once. In the short term, it produces consistent output that the senior does not have to rewrite. In the medium term, it trains the junior to produce that output without the SOP. Both outcomes reduce the senior's editing time.
How to build this for your firm
Start with one client. Your highest-volume client or the one where the senior spends the most time editing junior drafts.
Build the brand voice guide. Five to seven approved documents, 60 to 90 minutes to extract the patterns, one page output.
Write or refine the press release writing guideline. If your firm already has one, check whether it is specific enough for a junior to follow without asking questions. If the answer to "how long should the quote be?" is "it depends," it is not specific enough. Make it specific.
Build the anti-AI checklist. Start with the seven checks above. Add any patterns you notice in your own junior drafts that were not covered. Keep it to one page.
Write the QA checklist. List every factual and formatting item the junior must verify before the senior sees the draft. Make it a tick-the-box list. No ambiguity.
Combine all four sections into a single SOP markdown file. Load it into the AI project. Have the junior run their next press release through it, section by section.
The first draft that comes back will tell you whether the SOP is specific enough. If the senior still needs to rewrite, the SOP is missing something. Add it. Within two to three iterations, the file stabilises and the senior's editing time drops to a fraction of what it was.
Which client's press releases consume the most senior editing time in your firm right now? Start there.
Gabriel Tan is the founder of Mekong Bridge Advisory. He builds structured execution systems for PR and communications firms.
