How to be a Presentation God: Build, Design, and Deliver Presentations that Dominate!

12.2. WALKING THE STYLE TIGHTROPE

Style discussions are tricky because personal attire serves more than one purpose. It keeps us out of prison, hides our flaws, and provides a basic level of protection from the environment. It also communicates who we are and how we see ourselves to others, as well as how we would like to be seen. This latter sense of style means that your fashion sensibility is as much billboard as anything, an opportunity to advance your personal brand to a group of people.

As such, I can't make across-the-board statements about what should be worn in a presentation. Being the sixth guy on stage at a conference donning a charcoal gray suit and blue tie can be as damaging as being the only guy on stage in a Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, and Birkenstocks. It really depends on the situation. If your professional platform is teaching people to run a successful business from home, then those Birkenstocks may communicate the level of freedom you enjoy in your own occupation—proof that you're living the dream. If you want people to listen to the message, not the messenger, then that gray suit will really go a long way toward looking professional but not flamboyant.

Every presenter needs to think critically about the brand they want to display. Is the set of qualities wrapped up in your physical body and brain a pivotal element of your message, or are the two unrelated? Defining yourself through style is an extremely easy way to provide an audience with immediate context ...