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Making A Big Life Or Business Decision? Write The Press Release First

Forbes Agency Council
Dian Griesel
Dian Griesel, Ph.D., is president of Dian Griesel International, an author of several books and an intuitive trusted advisor to many.

Over the past three-plus decades, I’ve advised more than 1,000 people on major business, personal and business-personal decisions. My consult has related to acquisitions and mergers, product launches and failures, executive, entertainer and employee career moves, serious health issues and subsequent considerations, relationship starts and stops, and more situations than I can list. Yet in every case, I always advise the same thing: Start by writing the press release.

Growing up, my father’s advice (which I often resisted following) was “get it on paper.” He advocated writing down the pros and cons of any decision in two columns and then prioritizing the items in each until a logical decision could be made. This is still a good starting point for any decision.

However, in this era of the 24/7/365 news cycle, I advocate taking the effort to spell out the “who, what, when, where, why and how” in the form of a press release. This helps decision-making regardless of the circumstances. It works for business, personal and business-personal situations, such as, “If I make this career move, I’ll also have to move my family to a new city, school, etc. Is it worth it?”

How do you come to a decision by thinking about it like a press release? Start by asking yourself some questions regarding the who, what, when, where, why and how. After you have your answers, work to prioritize them using a top-down approach, with the most important part of the message in the first paragraph. This will better prepare you not only to make the right decision but also to help you think through how you will share the news – whether it is with the world-at-large, employees, customers, partners, family or friends. Interestingly, the process may often make you realize that the decision is not the right one at the present time.

To begin, start spelling out your answers to these questions on paper:

  • Who: Who will be interested in your news? Do you have one audience or many?
  • What: What will each audience want to know about your decision? What are the most important aspects of this choice or move?
  • When: When will this all go into effect? Is the timing crucial and concrete?
  • Where: Where will these changes go into effect? Do they require physical moves? If so, to where – and how/when will that happen?
  • Why: Why are you changing something? Why did you feel a change was necessary?
  • How: How can you position the news so it addresses the concerns of each stakeholder? How will you convince them that this is a sound decision?

You’ll note in the process that many of the answers to these questions are intertwined; that’s par for the course. The point is to streamline your thinking to make sure these points are addressed before your news goes “live” and you’re caught trying to answer questions from a variety of interested and related parties on the fly, which is never the best communication strategy.


To avoid thinking about all parties involved in any major decision is a mistake you make at your own peril. I’ve seen businesses collapse in days when the corporate decisions they thought were amazing resulted in mass defections of employees. I’ve seen unnecessary divorces occur because one person’s exciting career decision never considered the impact it might have on the career of their spouse. I’ve seen children left feeling abandoned when parents, communities and schools didn’t assess the long-term effects of their decisions. If you’re making a big decision, unless you live in your own private Idaho, someone besides yourself will feel the impact.

Making big work and life decisions is rarely easy. Getting your rationale on paper can make the process considerably easier and perhaps less painful for yourself, your career and all others associated with the process.