January 7, 2008
Having decided last year that YouTube had little, possibly even nothing, of interest to an HR audience, Yours Truly was pleasantly surprised to find this little treat below for stressed-out businessmen wanting to look super-sharp for an imminent presentation to an important client.
After an initial period of thinking this might be a spoof, a little background research showed that this is deadly serious.
Our beautifully turned out image expert (think Julia Somerville circa 1986) speaks for nearly five minutes about how to look good for a presentation. Her point about shoelaces should not detract from other sound advice.
Guru has learned a lot from these five minutes. He strongly recommends you watch it yourself. See if you can spot all 28 laughable top tips, the best of which is:
The important thing here is to make sure that you choose the colours and styles that best suit you... but as a general guide you should wear a suit in your shade of navy, a shirt in your shade of white, and a tie with your shade of red in it...
Umm, what if you have a blue face, should Guru still wear a navy suit? In Guru's shade of navy of course.
Complete with freshly scrubbed nails and polished shoes and shoelaces that have even been tied, now all he has to do is think of something to say in his presentation.
Comments (5)
Of course dress, hygiene and most of what this person was presenting is quite important; however, small details such as manicured fingers, pantie lines, are welcomed but, IMHO, not as important as what she was doing. She kept her hands folded in a fig leaf matter for most of her presentation. This was more of a distraction than her fingers and what color her fingernails were.
Also, she mentioned that earrings should not be dangling. She's correct, but earrings should not be big enough to be distractive. IMHO, her own earrings were a distraction, not only because they were (again, IMHO) large, but also they were white and contrasted with her overall color tone. If the earrings were more biege than white, then perhaps they would not be such a distraction -- at least for me.
She is absolutely right about the "Bermuda Triangle," and that's why I thought her earrings were a distraction. That's also why I felt the details of small items (like the shoes, fingernails, pantie lines, etc., though important, are not as important as the "Bermuda Triangle."
FYI, the best way to hold your hands when you are not gesturing is to place them down to the side. It's difficult to get used to, but it is much more professional than the fig leaf or the praying hands pose.
Ciao, Frank
Posted by Frank S. Adamol | January 7, 2008 6:23 PM
Posted on January 7, 2008 18:23
You Tube does indeed not have a lot of help for the work hungry HR person. However Guru might be interested in 'Excellence in HR 2007' - a film that features an anti-establishment view of HR in the form of 'Sex, Leadership and Rock'n'Roll - THE MOVIE' - featuring an interview with Tim Smit, Eden Project CEO and some other case examples.
Find it at www.business100.co.uk - click on 'Excellence in HR 2007'
Peter Cook
Author - Sex, Leadership and Rock'n'Roll
Posted by Peter Cook | January 18, 2008 7:03 PM
Posted on January 18, 2008 19:03
thought as a fellow HR person you may enjoy our video clip on breast etiquette, no man should leave home without it!
Enjoy.
Posted by Elizabeth Clark | June 29, 2008 6:00 PM
Posted on June 29, 2008 18:00
Hi Elizabeth,
Breast etiquette video sounds good - I do need to keep mine in check when I present!
Must go and sort my bermuda triangle out now!
Peter
p.s. You might enjoy this re image:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1FradOgJNA
Posted by Peter Cook | July 18, 2008 6:17 PM
Posted on July 18, 2008 18:17
An interesting quote by Warren Bennis on the difference between a Leader and a Manager: The manager asks how and when; the leader asks what and why.
Posted by Leadership Course | October 28, 2008 8:03 PM
Posted on October 28, 2008 20:03