Dress for Success/Business Etiquette

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Dress for Success/Business Etiquette

• Presented By
• David Smith, Jr.

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Topics of Discussion

• Dressing for success
• Business Etiquette

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Failure to Dress for Success

• Letting your family choose your clothing
• Letting your favorite sales clerk choose your
  clothing
• Letting your designer choose your clothing
• Letting an image consultant choose your clothing
• Letting your background choose your clothing

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Environment

• We are preconditioned by our environment
• The clothing we wear is an important part of that
  environment
• It is possible to change your dressing style
• People who look successful and well educated
  receive better treatment

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Dress For Success

• Not only individuals, but industries,
  professions, specific jobs, geography and climate
  dictate a natural clothing range that is easily
  identified through common and business sense

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The Right Clothing will make you look

• Authoritative
• Powerful
• Rich
• Responsible
• Reliable
• Friendly

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We all wear uniforms

• Uniforms are clear and distinct signs of class
  (upper middle/lower middle)
• Socioeconomic level of our clothing
• People react to our uniforms accordingly
• I am more important than you
• I am your equal
• I am not your equal

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Corporate Dress Codes

• Most companies have dress codes
• Many went casual during the 90s (business
  casual) and are starting to return to more formal
  dressing codes
• Clothing styles were too relaxed (Tank Tops,
  Slippers, etc)

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The Suit

• The suit is the single most important garment
  worn by a business professional
• Most expensive
• Your status, character and abilities are judge
  based on your suits
• Central power garment

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The Business Suit

• Suits are positive authority symbols, worn by
  people who make important decisions in our lives
• We are much more likely to believe, respect, and
  listen to the person who wears a suit than the
  person who does not
• In any level of society, suits are associated
  with authority, with position, and with power

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Buying a Suit

• Decide on Color, Pattern, Texture, Weight,
  Material, and Style
• Know your approximate size
• Decide how much you are willing to spend
• Buying a suit is a serious, thoughtful endeavor

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What to look for in a suit

• Feel the material and know what it is
• Read the label
• Look at the stitching behind the collar to see if
  it is neat, even and reinforced
• Examine the lining (interior pockets)
• Look at the workmanship of the buttonholes
  (plastic or bone)
• Look at the pattern
• Twist the sleeves of the jacket - should spring
  back into shape (final test)

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What material to look for

• The best material is wool does not snag fits
  well does not lose its shape is resilient lies
  better on the body warmer in winter outlasts
  any other fabric
• Second-best suit fabric is a polyester and wool
  blend - general rule is that the more wool the
  richer looking the material and the better the
  suit
• Avoid any suit made with less than forty-five
  percent wool

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What color to look for

• Blue
• Gray
• Beige
• Brown and shades thereof
• Black (limited basis)

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What pattern to look for

• Solid suits (the best)
• Rich and soft if they are standard business suits
• Two types of stripes are acceptable a very
  narrow vertical pinstripe (white or blue stripes)
  and chalk stripes - wider about 1/8 inch - tricky
  (Wall Street)
• Plaid (mainly summer suits)

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Psychological Association Suits

• Solid Navy upper middle class
• Solid Dark Gray upper middle class, negative
  with lower middle class
• Dark Blue Pinstripe upper middle class, negative
  with lower middle class
• Dark Gray Pinstripe upper middle class, negative
  with lower middle class
• Medium Blue Solid positive with all classes

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Psychological Association Suits

• Medium Gray Pinstripe upper middle class,
  negative lower middle class
• Medium Blue Pinstripe upper middle class,
  negative with lower middle class
• Light Blue Solid Positive with both classes
• Light Gray Solid Positive with both classes

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Psychological Associations Suits

• Dark Brown Solid Positive with both classes
• Dark Brown Pinstripe Positive with both classes
• Medium Brown Solid Positive with both classes
• Medium Brown Pinstripe The only pinstripe suit
  that tests well with all groups in our society

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Shirts

• Most common and most acceptable material is
  cotton
• Feels good to wear
• Soft and smooth
• Looks very rich
• Breathes
• Wrinkles (should dry clean)
• Second best- blend of cotton polyester
• White is the most popular color

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Business Etiquette

• The Corporate Culture
• The Job Interview
• Business Attire
• Complimenting dos and donts

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Corporate Culture

• Success in getting, keeping, and advancing in a
  job depends 85 percent on people skills and
  only 15 percent on technical knowledge and skills
• Critical to know the rules of business etiquette
• Relationships in the business world has always
  been based primarily on rank
• The old gender rules have been discarded within
  the corporate culture

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The Job Interview

• The basics of corporate etiquette begin with the
  job interview - your overall demeanor may have a
  critical impact on your future
• Dress conservatively
• Enter the room, smile, and make eye contact with
  your interviewer. Then wait until you are asked
  to be seated. Dont touch anything on their desk.
  Thank the interviewer.

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Business Attire

• Never, ever underestimate the critical importance
  of attire within the corporate culture
• What you wear says a lot about you
• You can damage or even destroy your chances of
  success in business by dressing inappropriately
• If your organization has a dress code, observe
  both the letter and the spirit of the code
• If there is no dress code, observe the workplace
  and and ask your supervisor

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Business Attire

• Jewelry shouldnt be obtrusive, and it shouldnt
  jangle. Avoid wearing rings on the right hand.
  Wear a watch (promptness counts)
• Furs Dont wear them in the business world
• Shoes Shine them
• Briefcases Keep them polished and clean

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Business Appointments and Functions

• Take off your topcoat
• Give it up or hang it on the back of your chair -
  dont carry it around
• Keep your suit jacket on in someone elses office
• Dont scatter things around. Keep files on your
  lap. Put your briefcase or handbag on the floor,
  or keep it on your lap.

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Two Types of Business Functions

• Black tie formal The correct term for tuxedo
  is dinner jacket. Black is always correct for
  men. White jackets are not. Women dont have to
  wear gloves, and never should shake hands in them
• Informal, or semi-formal slightly less dressy
  than black tie. Men should wear a dark business
  suit, a white shirt, and a dark silk tie with a
  quiet pattern. Woman should wear a dressy suit in
  an evening fabric, or a long skirt and blouse

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Introductions

• General Rule People of lesser authority are
  introduced to persons of greater authority Ms.
  CEO , I would like to intro.. A client is
  introduced first.
• Look at and speak to the greater authority first
  look at and speak to the lesser authority second
• The person who is being introduced, or
  presented, is named last
• Include background information

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Introductions

• Greetings
• Upstanding (everyone should stand up when being
  introduced)
• Shaking Hands (firm, not crushing grip)
• Comes with eye contact
• Is firm but painless
• Lasts about three seconds
• Takes only two or three pumps
• Starts and stops crisply
• Doesnt continue through the entire intro.

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Introductions

• Hugs and Kisses In general, hugs and kisses are
  inappropriate in any business environment
• Touching others in the workplace is impolite -
  includes patting on the back, arm around someone,
  or putting your hand on their shoulder
• Dont address someone verbally by a corporate
  title

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Titles

• Titles are vitally important
• In the company of others, show your boss respect
  by addressing him or her formally as Mr. or
  Ms. Smith.
• Ms. is the appropriate address for a woman in
  business, regardless of what she chooses to call
  herself in her private life. Mrs. and Miss
  imply social, marital, and sexual distinctions
  that have no place in the business arena

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The Workplace

• Proper etiquette in the workplace generates
  efficiency, helps to eliminate distractions, and
  creates a pleasant environment

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Workplace

• Your Co-Workers (relationships)
• Your Superiors (Respect)
• Visitors (you are the host when in your office
• Visitor should be greeted out in the reception
  area
• Doors If you reach a door first, regardless of
  gender, you should open it, go through it, and
  hold it to ensure that it doesnt hit the person
  following

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Workplace

• Elevators If you are nearest the door, you get
  on the elevator first, then hold the door until
  everyone else has entered
• If you are near the control panel, ask the others
  what floor they need and select those buttons for
  them
• Smoking Not allowed in most workplaces today
• Telephone Etiquette Speak unto others as you
  would have them speak unto you - when using the
  telephone, use your mouth for speaking only.
  Avoid chewing, eating, or drinking