OT: Business Dress

[Chin Diesel]

Since we are in the boredom of summer, here it goes.

What on earth would ever posess a grown man most likely in his 50's to show up at a conference where he has a speaking role for a 30 minute presentation to wear an ill-fitted ash gray suit? And a powder blue shirt as well. No kidding, looked like the old AD at Uconn would dress (that's not a compliment).

Looking around the room almost every other man had it figured out. Dark gray or black suit or some decent combo with a sports coat or blazer with a white shirt or dark colored shirt.

As soon as this guy started walking to the podium you could see the life sucked out of the room and he didn't fail to live down to expectations. Looked more like he should be a loan officer or actuary.

This was a room with about 60-70 people from a couple of different countries most in their 30's to 50's and mostly white collar professional types.

I admit to having it much easier in the military. No worries on what to wear.

But, it seems logical to me that if you're gonna buy a suit, get it tailored and buy some decent colors.

And I truly feel sorry for women in the business world. Trying to figure out slacks, dress or skirt (and how long should the skirt be). Shoes that are comfortable and look decent, finding a shirt or blouse to match and then the hair and make up too. Fucindity to that.

 

[61cygni]

Some people might put more weight on the content of a presentation. And some are fashion-challenged.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Some people might put more weight on the content of a presentation. And some are fashion-challenged.

Those are the people who are too vain to have learned the lesson of Homer Simpson and dimoxinil. Appearance matters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701211/

Plus every person had a computer with the entire presentation in front of them. The guy was going up to be a pin cushion for people shooting darts at the slides.

On a side note, today was my first exposure to facillitator pro, or fac pro. Great product. You can tab between the presentation slides and a message board-type screen where you could type in any question and have someone answer it for you. Great way to get a name and job title attached to an answer.

 

[junglehusky]

That's why I love being a scientist. Everybody dresses bad. If I leave the bench and get a real job, I'm going to have to get some help buying a wardrobe. Like... what's the difference between a sport coat and a blazer? All I can think is that a blazer has like, gold buttons or something.

 

[Chin Diesel]

That's why I love being a scientist. Everybody dresses bad. If I leave the bench and get a real job, I'm going to have to get some help buying a wardrobe. Like... what's the difference between a sport coat and a blazer? All I can think is that a blazer has like, gold buttons or something.

I'm not sure if there is a difference between a sports coat and a blazer. Although I suspect a 25 year old guy wears a sports coat and a 60 year old guy wears a blazer. The name change probably occurs somewhere around the same age that Ricky, Richie and Rich become Dickkk.

Either that or there isn't a difference. Similar to hoagie/sub/grinder.

 

[CL82]

My pet peeve is guys who get and read their hand outs. That's all you got? Okay I'll read it later. Let's all go back to being productive.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Since we are in the boredom of summer, here it goes.

What on earth would ever posess a grown man most likely in his 50's to show up at a conference where he has a speaking role for a 30 minute presentation to wear an ill-fitted ash gray suit? And a powder blue shirt as well. No kidding, looked like the old AD at Uconn would dress (that's not a compliment).

Looking around the room almost every other man had it figured out. Dark gray or black suit or some decent combo with a sports coat or blazer with a white shirt or dark colored shirt.

As soon as this guy started walking to the podium you could see the life sucked out of the room and he didn't fail to live down to expectations. Looked more like he should be a loan officer or actuary.

This was a room with about 60-70 people from a couple of different countries most in their 30's to 50's and mostly white collar professional types.

I admit to having it much easier in the military. No worries on what to wear.

But, it seems logical to me that if you're gonna buy a suit, get it tailored and buy some decent colors.

And I truly feel sorry for women in the business world. Trying to figure out slacks, dress or skirt (and how long should the skirt be). Shoes that are comfortable and look decent, finding a shirt or blouse to match and then the hair and make up too. Fucindity to that.

A grey suit and light blue shirt are pretty standard. Dark and brightly colored shirts are for guys in their 20s or athletes, not professionals. Light blue is probably the most common dress shirt color, see it much more than white now. Light grey suits are considered summer attire (and light olive). I prefer charcoal, black and navy myself, but light grey can look ok.

Trend seems to be towards sport coats and no tie in the sales world. Pink and Lavender have been in.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

That's why I love being a scientist. Everybody dresses bad. If I leave the bench and get a real job, I'm going to have to get some help buying a wardrobe. Like... what's the difference between a sport coat and a blazer? All I can think is that a blazer has like, gold buttons or something.

Its great!, I've spent most of my carreer in R&D and consider it a side benefit of the job. Occasionally, when you have to be the face of the company at a conference or with a potential customer, you end up somehow dressing like everyone expects you to look and no one is dissapointed.

 

[SubbaBub]

That's why I love being a scientist. Everybody dresses bad. If I leave the bench and get a real job, I'm going to have to get some help buying a wardrobe. Like... what's the difference between a sport coat and a blazer? All I can think is that a blazer has like, gold buttons or something.

Ok, here's a few things I've picked up on my journey from techno-plebe to empty suit.

1. Blazer generally refers to paneled pockets, a sport coat has flap covered pockets.

2. When meeting people professionally for the first time, appearance matters. Dress to impress applies but doesn't mean overdressing. A conservative dark suit that fits with a white or blue shirt and a tie that doesn't distract from what your saying and decent shoes works for most business settings. You may need to ditch the tie or wear a sport coat in certain settings. Generally try to dress slightly better than their expectations. Leave the earrings other jewelry behind unless you have a decent watch.

3. Since I'm at a point were I can do this, I sometimes deliberately break rule #2 above to see if my audience is can see past it to what I'm saying. IoW, are they worth my time, but these are advanced moves and I don't mind missing out with certain stuffier types because of it.

4. When giving a presentation, the most important thing is to know it cold. You'll be more confident and better able to connect with your audience. You come across as a more engaging human being, unlike our grey suited example.

5. If you must use powerpoint. Limit your sides to 6 elements, including the title. Try to make at least one element non-text. Do not use a wall of text or read your slides. If I have to use bullets, I limit them to three or four. Mostly to keep myself on track if I have a brainfart or there is a lot of excess cleavage in the room.

6. Position yourself next to your slide, you want them looking at and listening to you. Another reason not to read your slides or overuse text. If the room allows it, angle the screen so you can see both it and your audience to avoid constantly turning around. If I have to I will put my laptop in front of me or next to the projector so I can see what's behind me. I never turn my back on the audience.

7. Be as genuine and enthusiastic as you can about what you are saying. If your not interested, why should your audience be?



Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk 2

 

[District-Husky]

Serously, I think I wear a grey suit and blue shirt almost every day. Although today I am wearing a purple shirt. GF bought it.

A grey suit and light blue shirt are pretty standard. Dark and brightly colored shirts are for guys in their 20s or athletes, not professionals. Light blue is probably the most common dress shirt color, see it much more than white now. Light grey suits are considered summer attire (and light olive). I prefer charcoal, black and navy myself, but light grey can look ok.

Trend seems to be towards sport coats and no tie in the sales world. Pink and Lavender have been in.

 

[sledog]

You need a blazer to join a yacht club.

 

[junglehusky]

You need a blazer to join a yacht club.

I can afford a blazer. I can't afford a yacht, or a yacht club membership. Such is life.

 

[sledog]

Great pix, but Ted Knight in' Caddyshack' comes to mind.