Whatever you plan on saying when you get up to speak in front of others, by the time you get into place, you've already started sending messages to your audience. You do this through your posture, the way you walk, and what you're wearing...it all swirls together and is your "physiology," which then feeds into your overall "tonality."
For these vital reasons, it's well worth taking the time to consider what you want those first unspoken messages to be. It sets up a framework for everything that follows, so you want to make as striking an entrance as possible.
I've noticed (as I'm sure you have too) that there are lots of times where the clothing is wearing the person...when a petite woman wears a dress that's too much for her frame, or a man wears a loud fedora that doesn't sit well on his head, or something that's going around a lot right now... womens shoes that are overwhelming the rest of their outfit.
When you step in front of an audience you do not want to look like a victim of the latest fashion...and the trend of dressing down for the media does not cut any ice with me when it comes to live presenting. This is a type of performing, and not just another day at the office, so style yourself accordingly. I went to a seminar recently which featured over 15 speakers. Not ONE of them was dressed for the stage, and clearly they didn't discuss styling amongst themselves and they showed up in all sorts of get ups.
My next post will look at professional vs amateur photographs on websites and business materials.
