PRESENTATION SKILLS presenter's style, substance and dress sense

Dress Sense For Presenters

It's not often as a presenter that you begin your presentation wrapped up in a warm sleeping bag.  But that's exactly what happened when Lt. Colonel Charles Wylie gave a presentation in his local Surrey village hall.

In a dramatic scene, relived in his Daily Telegraph obituary, the former organising secretary of the 1953 Mount Everest expedition began his presentation whilst lying in his sleeping bag.

The response of his audience to his presentation skills and sartorial elegance goes unreported but such a dramatic introduction must surely have had their attention for the rest of the talk.

A presenter's choice of outfit might never be as extreme as Lt. Colonel Wylie's sleeping bag but nonetheless what you wear goes a long way in formulating other's opinions of you.

Not wanting to be over particular in our promotion of the right attire for the conference stage we will however, steer you in the direction of that old classic, "New Dress for Success" by John Molloy and his somewhat newer, "New Women's Dress for Success."  Both books have their critics but are probably worth a dip for some of the points that they offer.

You can find out more presentation skills tips in a PresentPerfect^TM public speaking training course.

Presentation Skills

The weekly German magazine, Der Spiegel, laments the often poor quality presentation and public speaking skills of the typical German business leader.

Whether they are presenting at an Annual General Meeting (AGM), a financial review or during a dinner their skills are supposed to be lamentable.

Der Spiegel notes their apparent reliance on the slide show technique, their choice of jargon and buzz words. More positively, however, the report does single out special mention of the Anglo-Saxon culture of encouraging and coaching speaking excellence in universities and the training room.

"40% of the power of a speech comes from the speaker's voice alone."

Der Spiegel