How to dress for cred­i­bil­ity, while remain­ing true to yourself.

What to wear for a per­fect pre­sen­ta­tion? As you design and pol­ish your speech, devel­op­ing visual aids and hand­outs, this ques­tion may fall into the back­ground until dan­ger­ously close to the pre­sen­ta­tion. Sud­denly, you look up: “Yikes! What am I going to wear?”

Your appear­ance impacts your cred­i­bil­ity as a speaker. Don’t leave it to chance, and don’t wait until the last minute to decide what to wear. Just think of prepar­ing your appear­ance as part of your over­all speech prepa­ra­tion. Here are my favorite, pos­si­bly com­pet­ing, guidelines:

• Stay authen­tic.
• Dress like your audi­ence– but one step better.

Stay Authen­tic: Within rea­son, your attire must express who you are. If you feel like you’re wear­ing some­one else’s cos­tume, your ver­bal mes­sage may not ring true.

Dress Like Your Audi­ence, But One Step Bet­ter: Appear­ing sim­i­lar to, but slightly more dressed up than your lis­ten­ers con­veys respect both for them and for your sub­ject. It enhances your credibility.

Use these five tips as a guide to dress­ing for cred­i­bil­ity, while remain­ing true to yourself.

1.  Wear well-made and well-maintained clothing.

Granted, no one will be check­ing your clothing’s seams or labels. But image con­sul­tants coun­sel that your audi­ence can tell if you’re wear­ing a cheaply made dress or suit. You can prob­a­bly feel it, too. Whether you choose to look con­ser­v­a­tive or cre­ative, wear well-made cloth­ing made from high-quality fab­ric. Avoid linen and other easily-wrinkled material.

2.  Pay atten­tion to details.

Even if your audi­ence won’t see your shoes, make sure they are pol­ished and that the heels are secure. Men should have a recent hair­cut and trimmed facial hair. Search for loose threads or inop­por­tune gaps between buttons.

3.  Wear your “Con­fi­dent Clothes.“

Wear some­thing that makes you feel sprightly and ener­gized. This could mean stick­ing to the tried-and-true, so long as it’s one step above your audi­ence and expresses your per­son­al­ity. Use a solid color that suits you near your face. (How do you know which col­ors suit you? Ask one of your color-savvy friends.)

4.  Make sure it’s comfortable.

You are NOT allowed to tug at or re-arrange your clothes while pre­sent­ing. Wear your out­fit around the house a few days before your pre­sen­ta­tion to ensure that you can move com­fort­ably. Then put your out­fit aside, includ­ing all under­wear, jew­elry and shoes, and go back to prep­ping your speech.

5. Dress to look taller.

Con­sider wear­ing a solid color for both pieces of your out­fit. This will help you appear taller and help you tap into the “Inten­si­fied You.”

So—to pull together both my responses to the ques­tion “What should I wear?” I leave you with these words: Let your per­son­al­ity shine through even as you “fit in” with each spe­cific audience.

Read more arti­cles about Pre­sen­ta­tion Skills. Learn about Guila Muir’s Pre­sen­ta­tion Skills Workshops.

Guila Muir is the pre­miere trainer of train­ers, facil­i­ta­tors, and pre­sen­ters on the West Coast of the United States. Since 1994, she has helped thou­sands of pro­fes­sion­als improve their train­ing, facil­i­ta­tion, and pre­sen­ta­tion skills. Find out how she can help trans­form you from a bor­ing expert to a great pre­sen­ter: www.guilamuir.com

Related posts:

1. 3 Rules for Excel­lent Presentations
2. The “Inten­si­fied You:” Key to Giv­ing a Great Presentation
3. 3 Tips to Deal With Audi­ences From Hell
4. 3 Words to Weaken Your Presentation

Tags: clothing for presenting, dressing to give a speech, presentations, public speaking, what to wear for a presentation

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