So where were the PR professionals who should have helped prevent the stumbling, bumbling results of the Task Force’s recommendations on mammograms?

The Preventive Services Task Force is part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Its website lists a press contact as well as an Office of Communications and Knowledge Transfer. Knowledge was transferred all right, but it was cold, calloused and confusing. Shouldn’t someone have helped these people plan their strategy before going public?

Granted the task force should have known better and asked for help. Its members were naive and stupid about the impact their recommendation would have. From their perspective, they’d done a yeoman’s job, spending weeks and months focusing on facts and figures to come up with a surprising result.

Unfortunately, they forgot about the human faces behind those facts and figures.

Many companies, especially large ones, have used it for a long time to talk internally to employees around the world, as well as telling their stories externally on national or local TV.

Now with the advent of easy, inexpensive cameras and YouTube, any organization can take advantage of the power of visual communication by putting their execs on video, posting it on their website, and emailing it to anybody who might be interested.

It’s a good strategy—if the execs are any good on camera. Unfortunately, most aren’t. So audiences can’t get to the stop button fast enough.

Four ways you know your so-called “talent” is boring everyone in sight:

1) The Teleprompter Stare (aka “deer in the headlights” eyes)

(This can happen with or without a Teleprompter.) Reading a prompter is a skill that looks easy but  isn’t. It takes instruction and practice to get good. Most don’t take the time. Much better to just “talk” to the camera.

2) The Endless Drone (a monotone voice with no inflection)

3) The Mannequin Delivery (stiff, no energy, no gestures, no smiling or any other facial expressions)

Equally as bad, are the hunched over posture while sitting at a desk or table, and/or leaning back too far.

4) Non-Conversational Gobbledygook (Too many words and sentences that are too long)

TV/Video is the medium least forgiving of anything that’s boring. If you’re using video and your execs don’t know how to deliver, you’re simply wasting your time.

Alliance Bank of Arizona had great news about reaching a critical goal: $1 billion in total assets! The president and CEO, obviously excited by his bank’s achievement, was quoted from the press release sent to Casacchia: “Reaching the $1 billion dollar milestone in total assets, driven by our exceptionally strong deposit growth, continues to illustrate the value of having a strong capital position.”

Can’t you just see him spouting that gem while toasting his company’s success!

In another segment of the column, Jacob Gold was quoted in a press release about his book “Financial Intelligence: Getting Back to Basics after an Economic Meltdown.”

“You would think that with the abundance of readily available financial information, people would know which path to take with their money,” he said. “In reality, the exact opposite is the case.”

No, it’s not perfect, but at least it’s conceivable that those words actually came out of someone’s mouth.

So who cares? Both got the publicity they were asking for. Even the lousy quote from the bank got ink.

The problem is, many reporters will go out of their way to NOT use a quote like that. And even when it’s used by a journalist who doesn’t take the time to call to get something better, it bores readers. They either don’t understand it, or it they do, they’re so turned off, they stop reading.

At least I did.

Funny thing about anger. We all have episodes of it, unfortunately not always in private. We all know it’s part of the human condition. Yet, when we witness someone else losing their temper in public, we tend to judge them harshly: “what a loose canon,” “what a hothead,” “gee, he/she has a real anger problem.”

We all have certain buttons that are easier to push than others. Often, the media (and our significant other) is adept at pushing them. New York Governor David Paterson is a recent example.

In an angry rant during a radio interview last week, Paterson seemed to say that his political problems and the media’s attacks of him were due to racism. “The next victim on the list—and you can see it coming—is President Barack Obama, who did nothing more than try to reform a health care system,” he said.

The reaction wasn’t good, even from other African Americans. The President’s aides were so upset that Paterson had dragged Obama into the issue that they sent him an angry message.

Yesterday Paterson took it all back, claiming that what he said wasn’t what he really meant. The root of the problem, he said, was anger at something else (kind of like when you have a bad day at work and you come home and yell at your husband or the kids).

Paterson says what he was really upset about was the accusation by a local TV reporter that he was a bad parent because he let his underage daughter (who in reality is 21) stay out late clubbing.

Major button pushing for a person who views himself as, and prides himself as, a good father. But then you cool down (and get scolded by the President) and realize your mistakes: Letting anger prevail over reason and criticizing the media. Bad combination.

Vick said all of the right things. His demeanor shouted something different. He wasn’t feeling—or believing— what he was saying. He was simply mouthing the words his media coaches told him to say during extensive training.

Yes, Vick has done his time for the crime. He’ll cooperate with the Humane Society and say he feels guilty for what he’s done. But in his heart of hearts I don’t think Michael really thinks he did anything wrong.  I belive he would still be fighting and killing dogs if he could get away with it.

Prison was just an inconvenience on his way back to a multi-million dollar contract.

When talking about presentations or media interviews, the right kind of practice means saying the words out loud, not just in your head. If you’re getting ready for a media interview, pose yourself possible questions from the reporter, then answer them out loud.

The idea is not to memorize what you’re going to say, but hearing yourself say the words out loud helps you critique them and ultimately “own” them. Ideally, you could even tape yourself on a audio recorder or camera.

It’s the same with presentations. Some people talk into a mirror. That doesn’t work for me—it’s too distracting (Hmmm…my eyebrow sure looks weird when I talk). But at least stand up and deliver your presentation out loud, ideally with the slides you’ll be using, if any.

Again the idea isn’t to memorize your speech. It’s to let yourself actually hear how the words will sound when strung together so you can make adjustments if necessary.

Panel discussions are a popular format for conventions and meetings. Over the years, I’ve attended many. They aren’t my favorite form of communication, mainly because I think they are usually done poorly.

Recently, in one day, I attended two club meetings with panels. Both were okay — but one was better than the other, mainly because of the moderator.

Rarely is the moderator (or panelists, for that matter) paid for his participation, but that doesn’t mean he should take the assignment lightly. The moderator is the traffic cop who must actually “moderate,” by enforcing time limits and keeping panelists on topic. He or she should understand the audience’s needs and expectations. He should know the viewpoints of each panelist and how they fit into the overall topic of discussion.

A moderator who knows what she’s doing makes comments and asks questions that keep the conversation animated and moving. She needs to ensure that each panelist gets a fair chance to contribute, but also must control the time spent on each question.

Of course, choosing panelists is equally important. In my experience, there are usually too many for the time allotted. In an hour-long segment, three or four plus a moderator is plenty. Obviously, it’s best if they have diverse viewpoints and opinions. (Some personality would be nice as well.)

Just like the moderator, panelists have to prepare. They should know what they want to say and how to say it succinctly. Any answer longer than two or three minutes is inviting the audience to tune out.

Ideally, they should know the other panelists’ viewpoints. And if a panelist doesn’t know anything about a particular topic or question, he or she should shut up!

It’s up to organizers to choose panel participants wisely and make the guidelines clear. Otherwise, you just have more blah blah, and your audience would learn a lot more by networking with each other in the hallway.

The first slide below is not as cluttered and data heavy as many I’ve seen, but it still has too many words on it to be easily understood by the audience.

One guideline that can help improve a type-filled slide is to put most of the words in your notes (either on your screen or on paper) to remind you what you want to say. Also, include only one key point per slide.

Here the presenter is trying to do too much at once. She’s talking about the importance of a “meaningful difference,” and then also adds five examples. She’ll probably read them to the audience.

I think it can be more visual and therefore more understandable by spreading the info out on more slides. The presenter can also easily include the audience in the discussion.

The first new slide introduces the concept. On her notes page, the presenter can have the info she wants to say, the stuff that used to be on the slide.

“Strong brands stand out because they have something that differentiates them — what’s called a meaningful difference. They convey this difference consistently and constantly in everything they do.”

“Let’s look at some brands that stand out in this way and see if you can name their meaningful difference.”

“When we think of Maytag, what do we think of?”

“Yes, reliability. How about Michelin?

“Safety. All of their ads and communications to consumers convey their emphasis on safety.”

“What stands out when we think of Disney? What’s their differentiator?”

“Yes, Disney is known for providing wholesome family entertainment. Parents know that if they send their kids to a Disney movie, it won’t have sex and violence.”

And she can continue on with the other brands. This way of presenting keeps the audience from texting, twitting, or checking email. And it’s more interesting for the presenter too.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the DOD issued this statement in response to the ridiculous Air Force One flyover in New York City:

“In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Presidential Airlift Group conducted a aerial photo mission in the New York City area on 27 Apr 2009. This mission, involving the VC-25 and an F-16, was conducted in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members. This mission was coordinated for the Upper New York Bay, south of the Holland Tunnel and in the Newark Bay north of the Staten Island Expressway between the hours of 1000L and 1030L.

Plain English gobbledygook.

Yes, maybe it would have been better if he hadn’t read at all, but just talked to the camera like David Neeleman, the former CEO of JetBlue Airways, when he apologized for service problems in 2007. But actually, as reading goes, I thought Doyle did a good job of making the statement sound heart felt and real.

The major problem that undermined his sincerity was a lack of eye contact.  He appeared to be reading cue cards or a laptop to the left of the camera, instead of facing directly into the lens which a Teleprompter allows you to do. Gee, they don’t cost that much to rent, especially when your brand is at stake.