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On the world stage, he introduced some of the most exciting, leading edge products, and he did it in a black turtleneck, jeans, and sport shoes. It was Steve Jobs “uniform”. Bill Gates, on the other hand, is often seen in a business suit, with the exception of Windows product launches where he has a more casual look with slacks and a dress shirt.
Is there a dress code for presenters? Yes, but it’s a moving target, it depends on where you are speaking and to whom. Is it a closed business presentation? Is it a keynote speech at a black tie affair? Is it to your local volunteer club?
The basic rule of thumb for a dress code for presenters at any event, is to dress one level up from what the audience is wearing.
I was once at an evaluation contest in Toastmasters. In this contest there is one speaker who is evaluated by several different people – you have to be pretty strong to be a contest speaker! After the contest speech, the evaluators are sequestered in a room, and one by one they enter the main room and give their evaluation. At this particular contest, the contest speaker was a very seasoned, excellent speaker. Finding suggestions for improvement (a necessity in this contest) was exceptionally difficult. One evaluator could only find one area for improvement. He wasn’t dressed properly for the presentation; he wore jeans and a golf shirt. With the exception of Steve Jobs, jeans are not recommended for any presentation.
Men, stick to a suit and tie, or slacks, with a business shirt and tie, or slacks and a business shirt. In all cases, wear proper shoes, not running shoes or sandals. If your business associates are all in jeans, and that’s the daily uniform, then it’s acceptable to wear jeans, although I think if the CEO was going to be present and he doesn’t wear jeans, I’d switch to slacks with a business shirt.
Ladies, suits – either a pant suit or a skirt with a suit jacket work best for giving a presentation. A dress with a jacket over it would also work. Pumps, not spiky, sexy shoes are best, even with a pant suit. You want to be grounded when on stage, not wobbling around on platform spikes. Keep jewelry to a minimum. Long dangly earrings should be replaced with elegant (not necessarily expensive) small hoops or drop earrings. I remember wearing a long necklace during one presentation I was giving. I did wear a nice blue pantsuit with a white silk blouse, but the necklace kept getting caught on the button of my jacket. I’m sure the audience remembers that darn necklace more than they remember what I said.
For both men and women, keep colors fairly neutral, avoid bright bold colors. Hawaiian shirts are meant for the beach, not the stage. My hot pink pant suit never gets on stage with me.
Dress for a successful speech and your audience will remember the speech, not how you were dressed. Of course, if you’re launching the next greatest technological generation of a computer, you may just get away with jeans and a black turtleneck.
Mary Anthes is a retired business owner, speaker and a Distinguished Toastmaster. She can be reached at nmanthes@shaw.ca
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