Dressing the Part

One of my mom's favorite mottos is "clothes make the man". She reminds me of this saying whenever I have an interview or a public presentation.  I always laugh it off as an old adage, but lately I have noticed the effect that a speaker's appearance has on both the speaker's confidence in delivery, and the audience's perception of the speaker and response to their message.

To relate the correlation between a speaker's confidence and their appearance I would like to recall some of the beautiful weather we had Thursday of this week!  When I woke up with sun shining and warm air blowing through my dorm window, I was lifted from the gloomy mood the beginning of the week carried, and I couldn't help but feel great about myself.  Even though I woke up late for class, I took some time and wore an outfit that I felt good in. On my walk to class I realized I wasn't the only one in this mood. The sidewalks looked like pages from a JCPenny's catalogue. All of the girls were sporting their cutest spring outfits and even some guys were breaking out their polos and cargo shorts. Everyone felt good, so they dressed well.

This relationship works the same way in reverse. We recently held elections in the College of Democrats, and some of the members took it much more seriously than others.  About half of the members running for office arrived in suits and the other half arrived in jeans. With the exception of one person, the members who presented their platforms in suits won, and the members that presented their platforms in jeans lost.  This is a great example of the effect a speaker's appearance has on both the speaker and the audience's perception of the speaker.

The members that presented their speeches in suits spoke with refined authority, and they dressed the part as a future leader of the organization.  The members that presented in jeans may have been equally qualified, but they did not present themselves in that manner. Their speeches were not as coherent and their platforms were not as developed as the members in suits.  The members that presented in suits may have done so because they cared more about getting the position and invested more time in their presentation, but isolating all other variables, the members in suits delivered better speeches than the members in jeans.

The audience was much more responsive to the speeches of the candidates in suits. This was compelling evidence of the effect of appearance on the perceptions of the ethos of speakers. It was especially significant because the club is very close and most of the members already know the credibility of the other members of the club. In this case, the audience held more respect for the speaker because the speaker expressed respect for the audience through their formal appearance.

In the end the rhetoric of delivery comes back to what my mom always says, "clothes make the man".  Professional appearance is one of the easiest ways that a rhetor can command the audience's attention and respect before they open their mouth to speak.  The rest of the speaker's delivery is up to their knowledge and preparation on the subject, but seeming like you care and respect your audience by your appearance is a crucial step to gaining the your audience's respect and conveying your message effectively.