Year: 2010

Submitted by Guest Writer, Antonio Centeno
President, A Tailored Suit

The Effect of Clothing on Training – How to Dress Professionally for Successful Training

The direct relationship between clothing and a person’s state of mind has been observed for thousands of years. To see this in practice, simply look at how militaries, hospitals, and religious leaders the world over have uniforms that their professions utilize. The right clothing signals authority and a level of professionalism that can be expected. Wearing the right clothing for you, your audience, your training environment, and preparing for the worst case scenario can ensure your training session is successful.

Know Your Personal Style

First and foremost, a person should dress with confidence in clothing that he or she knows they look great in. If you are confident in your appearance, it allows your inner energy to shine right through. And although you might be slightly over or under dressed, your audience will forgive this small transgression once you confident engage them with the subject matter.

To understand your personal style, you should be aware of the colors, style, and fits that best compliment your body. And although this will narrow down what you should wear, it in no way restricts your personal style as a smart dresser realizes that within these confines are actually the right choices that will best compliment natural features. Some people look great in dark and light contrasting colors than fit closely; others are better off wearing loose fitting earth tones with low contrast accents.

Know your Training Audience

Almost as important as your personal style, knowing your audience is imperative to a person looking to effectively train a group. Meeting with a group of business student at New York University – they’re used to meeting with bankers and businessmen wearing custom suits. Training a group of construction business owners in Oregon? Expect a more casual atmosphere, but you’ll still need to ensure your clothing is professional and non-distracting from your message. If you are ever in doubt, ask; and if the audience is a bit unorthodox in their dress (a friend of mine did some training at a nudist colony and was going to be “overdressed” even in a towel), then revert to your personal style. As long as it does not offend, and you are comfortable, the message will be relayed.

Know your Training Environment

Is the training going to be taking place outdoors on the beach in Southern California? Are you going to be indoors, but perhaps in a building whose AC is notorious for breaking down during hot Houston summers? Know your environment, and if possible get as much information from your host if you are not controlling where the training will take place. If you are in control of the location, then arrive early to ensure the environment is stabilized and a non-factor. Strong winds can make wearing that dress a very unnecessary distraction or unseasonably cold day will mean you’ll need a sharp looking wool men’s overcoat as that bright Columbia Ski Jacket Coat isn’t going to cut it.

Prepare for the Worst

Always have an extra change of clothes with an emergency repair kit such as thread, needle, buttons, and scissors. Coffee spills on white shirts and popped buttons are inconveniences for your audience, for the person up on stage training they are a distraction that can cause you to lose your audience’s attention. Be prepared with an extra set of clothing also enables you to better address the weather problem

Conclusion – Training and your Appearance

There are many things you can’t control when you are training a group; the room you’ll be in, the quality of the equipment you’re provided, and the mood of the audience before they meet with you. However, what you decide to wear is firmly under your direction. Don’t let a lack of preparation when it comes to your clothing be a factor in whether or not your training event is a success. Understand the importance of your appearance, and then put yourself in a position to succeed by dressing appropriately.

Antonio Centeno
President, A Tailored Suit
Custom clothing you’ll pass onto your son

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.

See also: http://actingsmarts-jackshaw.com/

Do prepare your speakers with all the information you can about the conference, including theme, size and organizational expectations. Don’t let speakers assume it’s business as usual. Sometimes, those of us who speak or train need reminders that we shouldn’t assume too much either.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking at a conference, and I was the one who did the assuming. I have no excuse. It was a last minute affair and I admit the occasion was most important for me as a visibility opportunity. As a speaker who talks about communicating–and a trainer, too, the process seemed a no-brainer. No insult intended for the organization. I caught myself assuming way too much. Normally, I address subjects on presenting, on training, on getting an audience to listen, on the “how-tos” and “why-fors” of communication in general so I should have known better.

As anyone–trainer, seminar leader, facilitator should expect when invited to present at a workshop or conference, there are some basic logistical details to begin with and then more details, those about your audience, for example, once you know. This was a group I thought I knew. As a trainer, I was sure I could handle any situation that might arise from not having a microphone or projector or screen, but what I had not counted on were audience expectations in how I would present that material. This particular workshop was for coaches, trainers and training developers, sales managers, etc–so pretty much communicators themselves. While it seemed to me I was to be speaking on the topic of the workshop–communicating credibility, which I did, I hadn’t thought I’d be expected to “walk the walk” of the trainer to demonstrate my own credibility by using icebreakers, activities and discussion. Apparently, my slide show didn’t reflect the latest trend in slide preparation and my talk, although engaging, was not what was expected…from me anyway.

While all the other speakers and presenters who were speaking on similar topics at the conference took the standard route of interactive speech and presentation as I did, I was expected to use all the training tools in my arsenal instead of just talk. Had I known the expectation ahead of time, that I would be viewed as the speaker/trainer extraordinaire by the audience, I could have given the audience more of what it expected. Granted, it was my fault, but now I will remind myself and others that, when it comes to training and planning training, there is always something we can’t know unless we ask.

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For more resources about training, see the Training library.