How You Show Up Is Important

The guy on stage was an expert. He knew the topic he was hired to speak about and did a good job delivering the information.?

So why was the meeting planner chewing her fingernails down to the skin?

The firm's managing director had just confronted her, and the conversation wasn't pleasant. The speaker on the stage at the firm's annual gathering made a horrible first impression. He showed up, unshaven, in a sweater and jeans with an unkept hairdo.?

This event was the law firm's annual three-day retreat. It was part educational event, part award ceremony, and part celebration of the hard work the partners invested in their clients during the past year. The speaker was sharing marketing secrets, and the title of his talk was "How to Create an Impressive Personal Brand."

There was an incongruence between how the speaker on the stage looked and the subject matter he was presenting. In the mind of the firm's managing director, the speaker's brand was: "I sleep in dumpsters, and I don't care what you think."

Your appearance says a lot about you.?

These days, we are in a weird work environment where meetings take place partially on video screens with participants managing pets and children walking into view at any given moment. We continue to accept that (if only for a limited time) because of the once-in-a-century virus that forced us to avoid in-person events.

A return to in-person events means a return to creating a positive impression on people with your appearance.?

Far too many people select their clothing before a work day with only themselves in mind. In professional services, you are the product, and the way the product is packaged matters. The first impression you make on people matters.?

You don't have to like it, but it is true.

Dress casually for casual events. Dress professionally for professional events, and if you don't know how to dress for an occasion, overdress to impress.?

The boardroom, the stage, a courtroom, or the sales meeting are not the places to express your freedom, independence, and comfort with your clothing. Dress like you are going to church. Look better than the client. Impress people with the quality of your clothing.

Some of you reading this are going to bristle. You'll write me saying that you've attracted more business since you started dressing casually for work. You'll tell me that your clients work in tech or in another industry where the norm is jeans and a t-shirt. And you'll stretch the truth and say they'd "throw you out if they saw you in a tie."

That is, of course, absolute crap.?

Be comfortable on your own time. The business meeting is a show. Put on your costume and prepare to perform.?

Why would you want to look like everyone else, including your competition? Aren't you better, more intelligent, and classier than your competition? Don't you want your client to perceive you as a polished professional who respects them??

Make sure your appearance says that about you.?

Let me spell it out:

Proper Dress for a Man at a Business Meeting

• Pressed Collared Shirt and Pressed Dress Slacks
• Tie (if delivering a speech or at a first sales meeting or in a boardroom setting)
• Clean shave. If you have facial hair, you're already at a disadvantage but make sure everything is trimmed, and your mustache is not connected to the inside of your nose.
• Comb your hair.

Proper Dress for Women

• Pressed blouse and pants or skirt. No cleavage showing.?
• Shoes with appropriate heels.
• Modest jewelry.
• Neat hair.
• Make-up, if you wear it, that accents your features.

These are the minimum standards for making the first impression in a business setting. I'd love for you to express your originality with your personality. I want to know everything about you - all your quirks and things that make you fascinating. But I'll never get to that point if you look like you rolled out of the gutter into my meeting.?

You don't have to like this advice, and you certainly don't have to follow it because that's your right as an individual.

But your client or prospective client also has the right to tune out everything you say because they can't take you seriously in jeans and a sweater, unshaven, speaking to his team in an annual meeting.

Warm regards,

Dave Lorenzo

The Godfather of Growth

Dave Lorenzo earned the nickname The Godfather of Growth because he helps people make offers their clients can't refuse. Also, he does favors. Those favors help you make a great living and live a great life. Call him now: (786) 436-1986