Introducing…

The new person - anyone from a coach or pastor to a principal or president.

This is fairly straightforward type of story, but sometimes these can drag on with glowing accolades about the outgoing person.

Generally, get the outgoing person’s name and details early in the story and in one sentence. Then be done with it. This story is about the new person, their goals and their history. The outgoing person isn’t news in this story. Here's a good example of how this can be written:

Diop replaces Barry Bussey, who served in the position since 2008 and left earlier this year to take a position in Canada.

Notice the short explanation of the outgoing person’s reason for leaving. In this case, the outgoing person left for another job. In other cases, the new person replaces someone who retired (http://bit.ly/nIdCSO) or died (http://bit.ly/xC0rW8). A short explanation within that sentence makes the transition graceful for the organization and for the reader. No need for the board chair or mayor to offer a two-paragraph quote about the outgoing person anywhere in the story.

Sometimes the outgoing person left because they were fired. If so, and if you’re writing for PR, just put a short mention of the person, but an explanation is not necessary:

[New guy] replaces [old guy], who served in the position since [year].