Dress The Part

Each semester, I start my class off with an introduction. This is nothing new and certainly does not make me unique. Everyone who teaches includes a course introduction. One thing I include in my introduction is dress.

I tell my students that, while they don’t need to dress professionally for a speech, studies have shown that people who interview on the phone do better if they are dressed as though they were going to be interviewed in person. I let the class know they can dress professionally but they should know if they are in a situation where they are making a formal presentation, they will need to dress professionally, even down to the shoes, no work boot, sneakers, or other type of unprofessional footwear

I really am curious to know how many students actually hear me say that, how many people would do it anyway and how many people would just ignore that advice. Just a thought.