Dress for Dismissal
“The most perfect technique is that which is not noticed.”
—Pablo Casals
Cellist, Composer, Conductor
So maybe you’re a watch nut. (As are many of us…) There’s a world of conversations to be had on the subject of fine timepieces. Knock yourself out! Have fun! Be an insider!
Just don’t for a second think that the timepiece, the tie, the suit or the briefcase are going to do anything but get a mental check mark from your listeners. (Check: He looks like a conservative, well-turned-out businessman. Check: She looks like a woman with expensive taste in shoes…)
The challenge: the more opportunities you provide your counterpart to form an opinion about you based on appearance, the more yardage you may have to recover with content. So don’t give up much to the casual appraisal.
Let them wonder until you start speaking.
Professional Attire is the Poker Face, the Level Playing Field, the Standard Uniform of business. So get used to it. These are your “Work Clothes.” They are purposefully not meant to be a backbreaking expense, though the range of choices varies from economy to first class and private jet. But side by side, the similarities of the lowest expenditure and the highest are greater than the differences. Again, that’s on purpose.
Of course, the richest person in the room, and the highest ranking leader have an undeniable advantage. But all of us dress in very similar ways at work to create the appearance of an egalitarian and pretty-close-to-equal in the great court of ideas kind of place…
So don’t get worked up about the “costume” for the event. Get worked up about the material, about the recommendation, about the actual “after the presentation” next steps. Get worked up about all the delivery tools so there’s no way something can go wrong at Show Time. Get so committed to the presentation itself that you “sink into the delivery.”
Each of these areas is something that can make a tangible difference in the way you come across, in the way people experience you and your material. You know this: A great delivery can be the difference between winning over an audience, or losing them.
If the costume “promises too much,” you set them on edge and make them just a little critical… It’s a strategy perhaps, but one that makes it hard to deliver enough to satisfy their raised expectations. It’s over-promising.
On the other hand, if you give them that low-key, understated appearance, then a quiet but warm opening, then a clear agenda, then work the logic along the way, then show how we could all benefit by working the process and get a win together in the end… That’s Under-promising, and of course, Over Delivering.
So don’t be unduly concerned about the costume — you can even plan to go less than heavy on presentation day to give yourself less to worry about or distract you from the business at hand.
On Presentation Day, Dress for dismissal! But Deliver to be Taken Seriously!
Applications
1. For You
Create your personal Suit of Armor for presentations. The killer tie. The great suit. The quiet but irresistible shirt. The Speaker’s Dress! But keep in mind, that the most important thing about presentation clothes is not their sheer audience impact, but the fact that they don’t get in your way while you’re working. After all, you are the show, the clothes just serve to cover up your personal flaws while you work. Don’t put yourself in the position of having to live up to your clothing…
2. For the Family
Perhaps one of the great lessons, long forgotten by this generation, is the power of anonymity. The ability to go unrecognized and unnoticed means that you don’t stand out in a crowd… Not to be chosen by a pickpocket, not to be mugged, not to be assaulted: all are the gifts of not standing out in a crowd. Think of this when you take the family on vacation.
3. At Work
Clark Kent may be the ultimate exemplar of this concept. Keep your strengths hidden until you choose to reveal them. An office costume serves many purposes, but one of the most important is to camouflage your powers until you reveal them in a meeting or a presentation. Next time you evaluate your wardrobe, remember that there are times to show off, and times to disappear. Just leave yourself that choice…
“Dressing for Dismissal” may be the most underrated strategy in business, but it allows you to choose when and how much of your power to reveal!
Dessert:
In the world of women’s clothing, a new style has developed for women in positions of power. Consider this: “These are blazers you probably haven’t even noticed. You’re not supposed to.”
Read all about it here…
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