Sometimes it is appropriate to wear expensive clothes and new shoes. At other events, a top-notch outfit may run the risk of your looking totally out of place. Even if an event is business casual, you probably wouldn’t feel comfortable being considerably overdressed, not to mention less formal events.
On the other hand, underdressing can also result in an unpleasant experience: showing up in a polo shirt, jeans and sneakers may well make you look like a visitor from another planet.
If you are not really sure what kind of event you are about to attend, don’t hesitate to ask the organisers or previous attendees, if the event in question is held on a regular basis.
Dressing up for a business presentation
There is no general rule; rather it is all about context. Many presenters have an outfit they always wear, no matter where they are going to be speaking. This means it is very easy to decide what to wear, although such an approach is not without risks.
To decide what to wear, you should begin with the following questions:
- Is your audience casual or will it be a conservative, very formal setting?
- What is the culture of the event or organisation: friendly and welcoming, or rigid and strict?
- What is my personal brand as a presenter? What impact do I want to have on the audience?
The solution to what you should be wearing is within the framework of these questions.
Put simply: You matter. The event matters. Your audience matters.
Last but not least: more isn’t always better and less isn’t automatically worse. What counts is if it works for you and doesn’t make you look like someone who is there by mistake. This is the conclusion of an article on the presentationmagazine.com website.
-jk-