Albert Mehrabian, a famous behaviourial scientist conducted a study to identify the key components that influence people in communication. He found that we are influenced by what you say (7%) and how you say it, i.e. the tone and sound of your voice (38%). By far and away though, how you LOOK has the biggest influence on your communication (55%).
In other words, before we have even opened our mouths to speak, people have formed a large part of their perception about us from how we are presented physically – our dress, grooming and general appearance.
This staggering statistic leads us to the top 3 things you can do today to assert your visual effectiveness and start getting what you want without having said a word!
1. Dress within your organisation’s “level”
Determine what is an acceptable dress code for your business (we call these “levels”) and dress accordingly for each level. In doing so remember not to benchmark what is acceptable for you to wear against what your colleagues are wearing but what your manager and his/her manager is wearing. Eg:
a. Level 1: Traditional business attire
b. Level 2: A tailored jacket is required/important
c. Level 3: Smart tailored business attire (no jackets/suits necessary)
d. Level 4: Relaxed business attire (denim allowed on a regular basis)
Dressing according to the right “level” ensures that you create the right impression all the time – once the wrong first impressions are made, they are often exceedingly difficult to alter.
2. Using the 80/20 rule to help your colour selections
Even in what we wear we can apply the 80/20 rule so build your wardrobe accordingly.
Keep 80% of your work wear in “staple” colours such black, grey, navy, creams, beige, taupes and browns – these also known as ‘non-offensive’ colours.
The last 20% of your wardrobe can be built to show your personality, illicit an emotion or image, and generally add interest to your staple colours. This consists of “basic” colours eg. blue, red, green, burnt oranges, purples, pinks and “accent” colours (brighter, more trend colours) such as bright pinks/fuchsias, bold orange, turquoise, lime, corals, yellows.
This 80/20 ratio is also the ratio you should use in dressing. Thus 80% of what you wear should be in staple colours (e.g. a charcoal suit), matched with the 20% in basic and interest colours (e.g. a blue shirt accented with a turquoise necklace or a purple tie for men).
Those dressing for level 3 & 4 work environments can afford to use more “accent” colours than the “basic” colours.
3. “The Whole Nine Yards”
It often amazes me how many professionals I meet that get 90% of what they wear so right, and then let themselves down by the last 10%. At 100% (or the “whole nine yards”) they could have walked in to a room with such a W-O-W factor that part of the deal/pitch/negotiation would have been won on that basis alone.
Grooming forms a large part of this. Go the whole nine yards – don’t stop at just clothes. The most common let-downs are in ratty looking shoes, poorly manicured nails including chipped nail polish or nail colours that are too dark/inappropriate for the office environment (for men it is usually nails that aren’t clean or well maintained), unkempt hair (messy pony tails, flyaway fringes, hair that hasn’t been groomed) and (for the ladies only please) a lack of a light application of make up to bring full focus to your face and eyes (very important for communication).
These tips are literally the tip of the iceberg in how you can assert yourself effectively through your visual presentation, but put just these tips in place today and you’ll already be amazed at how much easier it will be for you to dress for what you want at work.
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Smitten With Style is a leading corporate and personal stylist who work with corporations and individual clients to best represent themselves through their dress and grooming. With over 500 clients, it is their aim for men and women to dress and look confident at all times, whether at the workplace or at play.