- How should I dress for this speech?
That's one of the guaranteed questions
that virtually all speakers ask.
To answer it, I've asked some of my friends to help out.
(rock music)
I asked a handful of my friends on YouTube
or who do consulting and training this same question,
how should we dress for public speaking?
And I've put their answers all together
so you can hear their various advice.
And at the end, we'll hear a bonus tip
about how to approach a situation
where you have to wear a certain type of clothing.
I've put links to all of my guests' channels,
and websites, or books in the description below this video
so you can take a closer look,
and feel free to say hello to them in the comments section.
So let's hear from my friends.
- Authenticity is a critical part of speaking persuasively.
So at Explearning, we recommend dressing
for authenticity over conformity.
When we dress authentically, we reinforce our individuality
and project an aura of sincerity when we speak.
For example, marketer Seth Godin
wears purple-rimmed glasses.
It might look goofy, but its originality fuels him
and reflects his unique perspective on his industry.
- When dressing properly, the key is simple.
Ask the organizer up front as to what you should wear.
So let's say I'm on a call with a client.
The client says, "Well Brenden,
"I think you should dress business professional."
That means I need to put a suit on,
probably a tie, and I get to the event.
And that's how you dress properly,
ask beforehand and prepare accordingly.
- So a couple of recommendations.
First of all, be comfortable in whatever you're wearing
and feel confident in it.
Second of all, you don't want whatever you are wearing
or whatever your hair is doing,
or anything to be distracting.
So, really make sure that it's not so busy
or that hair isn't falling into the face
that that's a problem.
And then third of all, you want it to be comfortable enough
and your hair back enough that you can make the most
out of both what you're saying, your message,
but also your non-verbals and your gestures.
- The key to deciding how to dress for a presentation
is to dress appropriately for the occasion.
That means finding out how formal
or informal the event is going to be.
Find out how the other speakers are going to dress,
find out how the audience is going to be dressed,
and then fit your manner of dress to be appropriate
to the audience and the other speakers.
Having said that, I'm a big advocate
for dressing for success.
That means dress as well as you can possibly afford to,
be impeccably groomed, smell great,
get your clothes cleaned and pressed
and tailored to fit you.
It'll cost a little bit of money up front,
but the investment will pay back
huge dividends in the long run.
- My favorite tip for how to dress for public speaking,
wear what makes you feel the most excited,
the most confident, the most energetic, the most you.
There's no need to wear clothes
that don't represent you, that are uncomfortable.
If you're not a suit person, don't wear a suit.
If you're not a heels person, don't wear heels.
But instead, focus on what really represents
who you are and where you feel the most energetic
because if you feel like yourself,
and if you feel energized,
you're gonna pass that same positive energy
and that same excitement onto your audience.
- Your vibe attracts your tribe,
so really something that would tell people
who you are just like that.
You can always, of course, use the five five five method.
What will people think about you five minutes from now,
five months from now, and five years from now
from what you are wearing.
So again, wear something that is comfortable to you
and shows your vibe.
And batting cleanup for us is Allen Weiner
who is going to give us our bonus tip.
I asked him to tell us about his thoughts
on how we should think about situations
where we simply must dress up
in a certain way for whatever reason.
- Here's what I want to tell you
about the study of the things that you wear.
It's called objectics
and things like your glasses and jewelry.
A few years ago, sitting around a lunch table,
I was talking to a bunch of people about school uniforms,
and just about everybody agreed that uniforms keep a student
from expressing their creativity.
But one of the participants, he spoke at the very end,
said he had gone to a prep school
where everybody did have uniforms,
and he said if you keep the uniforms the same,
if you keep the way the kids dress the same,
then they express their creativity
in the way they speak, in the way they write,
and in their art,
and I think there's a real message there for all of us.
- So there's a range of advice
on how we should think about dressing up
for a speech or a presentation.
As mentioned, I encourage you to check out
our guests' channels or websites.
I will put links to all of that information
in the description below this video.
So until next time, thanks, God bless,
and I will see you soon.