Press Release Quote Examples: How to Write Quotes That Get Published

The quote is the most overlooked part of a press release. Most companies treat it as filler – a few lines of corporate jargon wedged between the real information. But journalists routinely pull quotes directly from press releases and drop them into published articles. A strong quote can make the difference between a passing mention and a feature story.

This guide covers what makes a press release quote work, gives you 12 examples organized by type, and provides a formula you can reuse for every announcement.

What is a press release quote and why does it matter?

A press release quote is an attributed statement from a company spokesperson – typically a CEO, founder, or executive – included in the body of a press release. It serves a specific purpose: adding perspective, opinion, or vision that the factual paragraphs around it cannot.

Here’s why it matters:

• Journalists copy them directly. Reporters working on tight deadlines often lift quotes verbatim from press releases. If your quote reads well, it gets published as-is.
• They humanize the announcement. Facts and figures are essential, but a quote adds the “so what” – the reason anyone should care.
• They signal authority. A quote from the CEO carries different weight than one from a junior spokesperson. The attribution matters as much as the words.
• They’re shareable. A punchy quote becomes the pull-quote in an article, the snippet in a social post, or the sound bite on a podcast.

The press release quote formula

Every effective press release quote follows a three-part structure. Memorize this and you’ll never stare at a blank page again:

1. Context – reference the announcement or the problem it solves (1 sentence)
2. Insight – share an opinion, vision, or interpretation that only this person could offer (1–2 sentences)
3. Forward look – hint at what comes next or the broader impact (1 sentence)

Template: “[Context about the news]. [Personal insight or opinion]. [What this means going forward].”

Keep the total length to 2–4 sentences. Anything longer won’t be used. Anything shorter doesn’t add enough value.

Press release quote examples by type

CEO / founder quotes

Used for company-wide announcements, vision statements, and major milestones. The CEO quote should convey big-picture thinking.

Example 1 (milestone): “Reaching 100,000 customers in under two years tells us the market was ready for a simpler approach to inventory management. We built Stockline because small retailers deserved the same tools as enterprise chains. This milestone is a starting point, not a finish line.” – Sarah Chen, CEO, Stockline

Example 2 (vision): “The logistics industry hasn’t meaningfully changed since the fax machine. We’re building the infrastructure that makes same-day B2B delivery as reliable as consumer delivery already is.” – Marcus Rivera, Founder & CEO, FreightPath

Product launch quotes

These focus on the customer problem being solved and what’s different about this solution. Avoid listing features – the rest of the release handles that.

Example 3: “Our customers told us they were spending four hours a week reconciling invoices across three different tools. The new unified dashboard eliminates that entirely. It’s the feature our support team has heard about most in the past year.” – Priya Patel, VP of Product, InvoiceHub

Example 4: “Most accessibility tools are an afterthought – bolted on after launch and forgotten. AccessKit is built into the development workflow from day one, so teams ship accessible products without slowing down.” – James Okonkwo, CTO, AccessKit

Partnership quotes

Partnership press releases should include quotes from both sides. Each quote should explain what the other company brings to the table, not just praise them generically.

Example 5 (your side): “Combining our real-time analytics with DataStream’s visualization engine means customers can go from raw data to board-ready reports in minutes instead of days. This is the integration our enterprise clients have been requesting since Q1.” – Elena Volkov, CEO, MetricFlow

Example 6 (partner side): “MetricFlow’s data pipeline handles the complexity that our visualization layer needs to perform at scale. Together, we’re solving a problem neither company could tackle alone.” – David Park, CTO, DataStream

Funding announcement quotes

Investors read funding press releases carefully. The founder quote should signal traction and planned use of capital. The investor quote should explain why they bet on this company.

Example 7 (founder): “This Series B lets us do what our customers have been asking for: expand into the European market and triple our engineering team. We’ve grown 300% year-over-year with a lean team, and now we have the resources to match the demand.” – Amir Hassan, Co-founder & CEO, CloudShift

Example 8 (investor): “CloudShift has the rare combination of strong unit economics and genuine customer love. Their NPS score is the highest we’ve seen in the infrastructure space, and that’s what convinced us to lead this round.” – Rachel Simmons, Partner, Apex Ventures

Crisis and response quotes

Crisis quotes must be direct, accountable, and action-oriented. Vague language or deflection will make the story worse.

Example 9: “On March 3rd, a misconfigured server exposed customer email addresses for approximately six hours. We identified the issue, patched it, and notified every affected user within 24 hours. We’re implementing additional safeguards, including mandatory configuration audits, to prevent this from happening again.” – Thomas Brennan, CEO, SecureVault

Example 10: “We take full responsibility for the billing errors that affected 2,300 accounts last month. Every overcharged customer has been refunded with an additional credit applied. We’ve hired a dedicated billing operations lead to ensure this doesn’t recur.” – Lisa Nakamura, COO, PayGrid

Award and recognition quotes

Keep these humble and redirect credit to the team or customers.

Example 11: “This award belongs to our support team, who handle 4,000 tickets a week and still maintain a 98% satisfaction rating. Technology gets the headlines, but people deliver the experience.” – Carlos Mendez, CEO, HelpLine

Executive hire quotes

The new hire’s quote should show they understand the company’s mission. The CEO’s quote should explain why this person specifically.

Example 12: “I’ve spent 15 years scaling go-to-market teams at enterprise SaaS companies, and NovaTech’s product-market fit is the strongest I’ve seen at this stage. The opportunity to build a world-class sales organization here was too compelling to pass up.” – Angela Torres, incoming CRO, NovaTech

Quote type reference table

Common mistakes in press release quotes

Most press release quotes fail for the same reasons. Avoid these and you’re ahead of most releases landing in journalists’ inboxes.

• Corporate jargon. “We’re leveraging synergies to deliver best-in-class solutions” says nothing. Replace buzzwords with specifics.
• Repeating the headline. The quote shouldn’t restate facts already in the release. It should add opinion, context, or vision.
• Quoting the wrong person. A product launch quote from the CFO raises eyebrows. Match the spokesperson to the news.
• Too long. If your quote is longer than four sentences, journalists will trim it – and they might cut the best part.
• Too generic. “We’re excited about this partnership” could appear in any press release from any company. If you can swap in a competitor’s name and the quote still works, rewrite it.
• No human voice. Read the quote aloud. If it sounds like a legal filing, start over. Quotes should sound like something a real person would say in a conversation.
• Multiple quotes saying the same thing. If you include two quotes, each one must add a distinct angle. Two people saying “we’re thrilled” is worse than one person saying something meaningful.

How to get your quotes published

Writing a great quote is only half the job. It also needs to reach journalists in the right way. Here are the tactical steps:

1. Place the quote after the lead paragraph. Journalists read top-down. If your quote is buried at the bottom, it won’t be seen.
2. Keep formatting clean. Use standard quotation marks, attribute with full name and title, and separate the quote into its own paragraph.
3. Build a targeted media list. The best quote in the world is useless if it lands in the wrong inbox. Research which journalists cover your space.
4. Time your send. Press releases sent on Tuesday through Thursday mornings get the highest open rates. Read more about the best time to send a press release.
5. Pair it with a media pitch. Don’t just blast the release. Write a personalized pitch email that highlights the quote and explains why it’s relevant to the journalist’s beat.

Press release quote checklist

Before you finalize any press release quote, run it through this checklist:

• Does it add insight the factual paragraphs don’t?
• Is it 2–4 sentences?
• Does it sound like a human speaking, not a legal document?
• Is the attributed person relevant to the announcement?
• Could you swap in a competitor’s name and the quote still works? (If yes, rewrite it.)
• Does it follow the Context → Insight → Forward Look formula?

Building quotes into your PR strategy

A great quote doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s part of a broader PR plan that maps out which announcements get press releases, who the spokesperson is for each type of news, and how the release gets distributed.

For startups without a dedicated PR team, the founder usually handles all quotes. That’s fine, but make sure each quote matches the type of announcement. A founder can quote about vision for funding news and switch to a product-focused voice for a launch.

If you’re evaluating distribution options, compare PR Newswire alternatives before committing to a wire service. Many startups get better results from targeted email outreach paired with strong, quotable content.