Hair
You must pay attention to the way you look. This will have a significant impact on your performance. If you do not look the part you undermine your presentation. The way you present yourself to the audience communicates a great deal even before you open your mouth to speak. Make sure you put together the image that you want to project.
Your choice of clothing and grooming is very important. Be aware that unusual clothes or jewellery will catch your audience's attention and possibly distract them from your work.
- Hair in your eyes will guarantee that your audience members are thinking:
“how can she see through that fringe?”
- A tongue ring will make them think:
“how can he speak with that thing in there?”
You don't want to give your audience anything to think about other than your prepared material. For more information on clothes and grooming please see the page on Non-verbal Communication.
Think about what you wear. If you present in a mini-skirt and mid-drift tank top, your presentation on the decline of the Roman Empire may not be taken seriously. Similarly board shorts and grubby T-shirt will not inspire confidence in your ability to analyse the upward rise in the Australian share market.
For most presentations you will need to appear confident and professional. There may be occasions when you need to present a different image. A communications student, for example, dressed as the grim reaper when presenting a talk on Halloween may be able to use the costume effectively. This might be appropriate and will help to get the audience completely involved in the presentation. But sometimes outlandish costumes can backfire; they can distract attention away from the seriousness of your topic. So use this technique judiciously.
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