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Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Chapter 6: PR Writing: Persuasive and Audience-Focused
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. What is the first question to ask before beginning to write a PR tactic?
a. Why are you writing?
b. When is the deadline?
c. What is the budget?
d. Who are the target readers?
2. What do the verbs inform and influence have in common?
a. Both involve communication.
b. Both begin with the same letter.
c. Both suggest powerful results.
d. Both describe possible PR goals.
3. What did political scientist Harold Lasswell create when he wrote, “A convenient way
to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions: Who? Says
what? In which channel? To whom? With what effect?”
a. the first PR department at a U.S. university
b. a forerunner to Twitter
c. an early communication model
d. a condensed outline for news release writing
4. What tactical approach is standard practice in PR campaigns to counteract noise?
a. repeat and reinforce messages
b. adhere to established guidelines
c. follow Schramm’s Model of Mass Communication
d. understand your audience
5. Who developed an early communications model that is a representation of the 5Ws?
a. Shannon and Weaver
b. Wilbur Schramm
c. Bob Taylor
d. Harold Lasswell
6. What technique spells out questions the PR writer should answer upfront?
a. inverted pyramid
b. 5 Ws and H
c. SUCCESs principles
d. framing
7. In their communication with target audiences, PR practitioners should be strategic
and respect ______, societal, and professional norms.
a. international
b. legal
c. human
d. behavioral
8. What element of Chip and Dan Heath’s SUCCESs principles prompts writers to
identify the essential core of their ideas?
a. storytelling
b. concrete
c. simple
d. strategic
9. When writers assume others understand the words they use, share the same skills
they possess, and know the obscure facts that they perceive as common knowledge,
what bias is occurring?
a. curse of knowledge
b. great expectations
c. lack of perception
d. failure to analyze audiences
10. Good PR writing is concerned with ______, which includes style, grammar, and
punctuation.
a. rules
b. accuracy
c. format
d. details
11. According to AP style guidelines, what is the correct way to write a specific date in
the month of October?
a. October 16
b. Oct. 16
c. 10/16
d. Oct. 16th
12. What is the one exception to the AP rule stating that you spell out any number at the
beginning of a sentence?
a. street addresses
b. percentages
c. numbers over 999
d. 4-digit year
13. What is the AP standard for the use of apostrophes with numbers and individual
letters?
a. Always use apostrophes with both except with the letter A.
b. Do not use apostrophes with either except with the letter A.
c. Always use apostrophes with numbers but never with individual letters.
d. Always use apostrophes with individual letters but never with numbers.
14. Which of the following is an example of a client that would need PR writing to focus
on customers or consumers, financial relations, or social responsibility?
a. General Electric
b. Food and Drug Administration
c. American Chiropractic Association
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
d. United Way
15. Why should you follow AP style rules when writing news releases?
a. You are sending printed copies to the media.
b. Your client is requiring that you do so.
c. News writing should be more conversational.
d. News items written in AP style get serious consideration.
16. In addition to using a celebrity spokesperson, what media tactic is coffeemaker
Nespresso and its partner TechnoServ using to communicate with their sources in
Sudan?
a. nightly TV news reports
b. weekly radio broadcasts
c. a private Facebook group
d. Twitter messages
17. What tactic is considered the gold standard for disseminating essential news and
information to members of the media?
a. fact sheet
b. media kit
c. backgrounder
d. news release
18. You have written a new release that details the results of your client’s
groundbreaking deal with a major sports franchise. To ensure it is delivered to the right
hands, who is the appropriate source to send it to at the major media?
a. editor
b. gatekeeper
c. publisher
d. beat reporter
19. What is another writing method that incorporates the 5 Ws and H but with a twist
that allows you to better frame the news to highlight your organizational goals?
a. digital writing
b. Op-Eds
c. inverted pyramid
d. speechwriting
20. When you distribute a news release via email, what should you enter in the subject
line?
a. the release’s headline
b. the name of your client or organization
c. a catchy title
d. A summary of the first paragraph
21. Which of the following items should you use for the beginning and ending of a news
release?
a. organization name and date
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
b. lead and boilerplate
c. introduction and summary
d. 5 Ws and H
22. When distributing a news release via email, where should you put the content of a
short release?
a. in an attachment
b. in a hyperlink in the subject line
c. in a URL link in the body of the email
d. in the body of the email
23. Which of the following is a recommended method of sending additional materials
such as videos and photos to the media?
a. sending each item in a separate email
b. directing the media to your organization’s website
c. including embedded links within a multimedia email containing the news release
d. mailing the materials
24. Who produced a multimedia news release to announce the PSA ad campaign
produced for First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative to combat childhood
obesity?
a. Edelman
b. The Ad Council
c. Michelle Obama
d. White House staff
25. According to a survey conducted by Business Wire, how much more activity do
multimedia news releases generate when compared to text only releases?
a. double
b. triple
c. quadruple
d. no more
26. Based on results from the Business Wire survey of 400 journalists, which
multimedia element link do most journalists prefer?
a. photographs
b. graphics
c. videos
d. logos
27. You regularly use social media to share articles written by journalists with whom you
interact. Why is this considered good practice?
a. It impresses your social media contacts.
b. It feeds journalists’ egos.
c. Helping journalists reach a wider audience helps your results in return.
d. It prompts journalists to remember you.
28. You have sent a news release to a journalist who emails to request more details for
an article, but you receive the request while you are out of town. What should you do?
a. reply as soon as you return
b. let your email autoreply relay that you are out of town
c. reply immediately and say you will get back with the journalist upon your return
d. reply immediately to determine the journalist’s needs and then follow up accordingly
29. What is the primary benefit of a fact sheet for the recipient?
a. summarizes the 5 Ws and H
b. serves as a concise, clear reference tool
c. replaces the news release
d. supports the news release
30. Which of the following is an example of a question answered in a backgrounder?
a. How did this issue arise?
b. Why should you care about this story?
c. When should the story run?
d. What are the benefits of using the backgrounder?
31. What do the fact sheet and the news release have in common?
a. graphics
b. inverted pyramid structure
c. infographics
d. 5 Ws and H
32. How does the pitch letter differ from the news release?
a. It is printed and mailed to recipients.
b. It is personalized to a specific media outlet and person.
c. It supplements the news release.
d. It provides all the details in one package.
33. For the company’s annual report you have written a series of vignettes highlighting
the community service work company employees are doing while on vacation. You
realize these stories are excellent material for a ______ to send to the media.
a. media kit
b. brochure
c. news feature
d. Op-Ed
34. When writing a news feature or Op-Ed, what tactic increases the likelihood that your
article will be used?
a. mimic the media’s approach and conform to accepted journalistic standards
b. follow Schramm’s Model of Mass Communication
c. research your subject thoroughly before writing a word
d. identify the appropriate gatekeeper to send it to
35. How did the term “Op-Ed” originate?
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
a. A writer named Ed became famous for his hilarious opinion column in the New York
Times.
b. The New York Times ran a page of opinion articles opposite the editorial page.
c. It was coined by political columnist Jack Anderson.
d. The Washington Post abbreviated “opinion editorial” to use as a 1-column headline.
36. What tool can you give to media contacts that offers specific occasions for still
photos and video shoots to help them better illustrate their stories or segments?
a. photo prints
b. digital photo files on CD
c. hyperlink to photos on your organization’s website or server
d. photo opportunity sheet
37. What is the iterative process of telling your audience what you’re going to tell them,
telling them, and then telling them what you told them?
a. 5 Ws and H in a speech
b. rule of three
c. golden rule of speechwriting
d. inverted pyramid
38. As part of Sahlman Seafood’s CSR initiatives at their Nicaraguan operations, what
communications tool does it use to promote volunteerism and involvement among their
Nicaraguan employees?
a. weekly emails
b. quarterly employee newsletter
c. company website
d. Facebook posts
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
39. For maximum results, what should a written pitch accomplish?
a. quickly communicate its value and substance to the recipient
b. catch the reader’s eye with a creative headline
c. provide all the details about an upcoming event
d. make the recipient want to know more
40. The best ______ usually provide a provocative and insightful perspective on topics
of great interest to the public.
a. news features
b. speeches
c. Op-Eds
d. white papers
41. According to the text, what are the three essential elements of narrative?
a. characters, setting, and plot
b. drama, characters, and happy ending
c. emotions, conflict, and solution
d. characters, event, and lesson
42. What is the recommended length for a PR feature story?
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
a. five pages single-spaced
b. 1000–2000 words
c. 500–1000 words
d. 2000+ words
43. Your client is a national chain of health food stores. Which of the following is an
example of a feature story angle that would interest the media?
a. How to improve your child’s focus in school
b. What drives the company CEO to succeed
c. Why it’s better to buy supplements from a health food store
d. What your company’s business plans are
44. Who typically submits an Op-Ed to a news publication?
a. a PR writer
b. a reader or an outside expert
c. a politician
d. a reporter herself
45. Due to the decrease in the size of news organizations’ staffs, journalists must
multitask now more than ever to provide content for both the online and print editions.
What item in the PR writer’s toolkit can help journalists meet their needs?
a. company website
b. feature stories
c. media kit
d. Facebook page
46. What do most speeches have in common?
a. style
b. purpose
c. formatting guidelines
d. language
47. To properly structure content to the social and digital environment, what shift must
writers make?
a. incorporating more data and statistics
b. away from a casual, friendly tone
c. incorporating more human interest topics
d. away from a more traditional style
48. The evolution of digital and social media provides access to forms of distribution
which benefit the PR writer in what ways?
a. reaching people around the world with one keystroke
b. reaching more people, more frequently, and at less cost
c. creating and sending news and feature releases in half the time
d. doubling the size of your media contacts distribution list
49. The ability to directly reach specific publics expeditiously and at less cost is one of
the reasons the public relations profession is doing which of the following?
a. growing
b. shrinking
c. adding classes at the university level
d. recruiting PR professionals to teach at the university level
50. Public relations instructor and consultant Don Bates maintains that everything
written for PR purposes must include what element?
a. 5 Ws and H
b. compelling headline of 20 letters or less
c. concrete call to action
d. boilerplate
True/False
1. It is acceptable to use the same writing style for the general public and business
audiences.
2. Understanding your reader allows you to write concisely and effectively.
3. The starting point of Schramm’s 1954 Model of Communication is: “Message
encoded by the transmitter.”
4. When writing according to AP style standards for a news release, always abbreviate
the days of the week.
5. Never capitalize the first letter of a sentence fragment contained in a quote, per AP
writing guidelines.
6. The news release is the only appropriate tactic for communicating with radio,
television, and newspapers.
7. According to the media database company Cision, its 2017 State of the Media Report
confirms that journalists rank fact sheets as one of their most valuable resources.
8. Within digital news releases you can include relevant URL links to provide further
information.
9. A fact sheet must be labeled “Fact Sheet” at the top and include a headline and
dateline.
10. The language used in a speech should be exactly like that used in all PR writing.
Short Answer
1. Before you begin to write a PR piece, there are seven basic questions you should ask
and answer. Why?
2. Why is it more important than ever before that news releases are complete, accurate,
and correctly formatted before distribution?
3. Describe an effective strategy for writing a pitch letter.
4. Why is speechwriting considered a challenging art form?
5. What simple action put into motion a highly successful corporate responsibility
program by the Whirlpool Corporation, and why did they do so?
Instructor Resource
Page, Introduction to Strategic Public Relations, 1e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
Essay
1. The communication model developed by Shannon and Weaver included the concept
of noise. What is noise and why is it of great concern to PR practitioners?
2. How can answering the question “How do I want to end up?” guide your writing to
support your client’s brand positioning?
3. Today PR writers must hone their skills using a wide variety of writing tactics as well
as media. Given this reality, why should they also become experts in particular
subjects?
4. Using Schramm’s Model of Mass Communication as a guide, create a numbered list
that describes the process flow of an effective pitch letter for a future event. Include the
concept of noise and identify its occurrence.
5. With an ever-increasing number of people getting their news online and via social
networks, why does this diverse and fluid field of media consumption represent
challenges and opportunities as well as dangers for the public relations profession?
