Shira Miller Communications

Perhaps it is a rite of passage in today's pop culture. But if you open the pages of your favorite magazine or peruse a personal growth bestseller, the odds are good you'll find a quiz inside to help determine your best career path, ideal mate, personality type, eating patterns and just about anything else under the sun. And hey, we're not above jumping on the bandwagon - with our own unique twist added, of course. Here is the Shira Miller Communications "Test Your PR Savvy" Quiz for your edification and enjoyment.

1. A reporter calls to ask you about a sensitive situation that could significantly impact your business. Do you:

A - Fax the reporter a generic statement shortly before his deadline. That way you've provided him with the requested information without leaving any time for additional questions.

B - Recognize this as an important opportunity to promote fair media coverage by sharing your company's perspective about the situation as soon and comprehensively as possible.

C - Emphatically say "No Comment."

D - Launch into an explosive rant about how much you hate nosy reporters.

2. You're planning a fun special event to celebrate the launch of your company's exciting new product. RSVP's are pouring in like crazy - every single media outlet invited and more than twice the amount of guests you expected now plan to attend. Do you:

A - Set up a separate press area where the media will be wined and dined while the other attendees can fend for themselves.

B - Recognize that Bob from accounting is going to blow a gasket and scale back on the entertainment and other factors that made the event so fun in the first place.

C - Cancel the whole thing - you can't deal with this kind of overwhelming stress.

D - Double the quantities of food, beverages and cool giveaways ordered since this is such a great opportunity to raise your visibility with all key audiences.

3. Your company is about to close a business division that will result in the loss of thousands of jobs. Do you:

A - Leave the task of communicating to Human Resources since they typically handle personnel issues - but you'll certainly write a newsletter story about the announcement later.

B - Prepare a statement for the media and announce it immediately to handle damage control. Afterwards, adapt the information for internal announcements.

C - Prepare comprehensive Q&A materials about employee concerns and help plan face-to-face internal announcement meetings immediately before releasing statements to the media and external audiences.

D - Why should you do anything - the layoff doesn't affect your job.

4. Your CEO has been accused of insider trading. Do you:

A - Prepare a balanced statement for internal and external audiences explaining the accusation and the steps your company is taking to investigate the situation/cooperate with the authorities (while subtly taking the stance that he is innocent until being proven guilty).

B - Tell everybody you know that you always thought he was a crook in the first place.

C - Deny the accusations publicly while dumping your own shares of the company stock asap.

D - Arrange for the heads of charitable organizations and individual employees who benefited from the CEO's largesse to make the morning talk show rounds, emphatically protesting that he was incapable of such an act.

5. During a big strategic planning meeting, one of your employees presents a brilliant, innovative idea that is enthusiastically embraced by the senior management team. Do you:

A - Immediately point out problems with the idea and her thinking to the rest of the group. You don't need some insubordinate gunning for your job.

B - Remain quiet but resolve to keep the next high visibility project for yourself in the future.

C - Sing her praises loudly and feel a surge of pride at her much deserved recognition. It only reflects well on you for developing her talents.

D - When praising the employee to others after the meeting, you casually tell everyone how you helped her come up with the idea in the first place.

6. Your new client expects to see their business suddenly pasted on the front page of every major publication in the country. The problem is that they don't have any hard news worth announcing. Do you:

A - Do just enough to squeak by and bill them for as many hours as you can while they're still paying their invoices. Everybody knows the company is a hot potato that drops their PR agency of record every six months anyway.

B - Try to make lemons into lemonade, pitching the story ideas the client wants publicized to major reporters. Maybe they'll take pity on you and write something.

C - Avoid any confrontation until the client brings up their concerns.

D - Schedule a candid expectations meeting with the client, educating them about effective media relations and presenting alternative means of generating press coverage. How else are you going to build the kind of trust necessary for a long-term relationship?