Dressing like a Leader even when Dressing Down

We’ve talked before about how important it is to make a first impression by dressing well. But you can’t power dress twenty four hours a day all year!

For one thing, not every occasion merits the same kind of wardrobe that a job interview or first meeting with a potential client would. Also, some industries are heavily leaning toward the casual these days, and that type of wardrobe could actually be off-putting because it could possibly give the wrong impression.

This is not to say that you should just let yourself go in public, ever. It’s important in this increasingly competitive world to distinguish yourself from the rest of the pack, and your wardrobe is going to be your first tool as far as that is concerned. Even on a Zoom call, people are constantly evaluating you on your appearance.

Therefore, it’s super important to be able to look good no matter how casual the occasion is. Here are some good tips to look good even in pijamas!

Look Good From Home

It’s no secret that the world is immensely more virtualized than ever, and this has been accelerated in the year 2020, for obvious reasons.

Many of us no longer leave home at all for work related reasons, and many more of us do so very rarely, say, three times a month or less.

Instead of going full office dress, which just makes people look pretentious and snobby, a much better strategy is to have something homey but elegant. Check out these great selections of Joggers
Loungewear and T shirts to get a better idea of what we are talking about.

With top of the line homewear you will be looking authentic but also looking your best at the same time. You’ll also be a lot more comfortable than you would be wearing anything else.

Some Other Tips for Teleconferencing

Whether you are on Zoom, Skype, AnyDesk, Teamviewer or any other software you may wind up using, the principles are all the same. Here’s a quick list of relevant points for making yourself look and sound the sound the best.

-Computer and phone microphones sound dirty and distorted. Consider a decent lapel mic or something similar. Bigger mics for podcasts are not optimal because they cover your face and look like you are trying too hard, unless you’re actually doing a podcast or similar.

-This one is so important and so often overlooked. Make sure your face is being lit directly. This can be solved by investing in a simple USB table lamp and pointing it right at your face. If you are only being lit from the sides or behind you, you will have weird shadows everywhere.

-Focus the camera on you. Use features like the ones present in Skype and Zoom to blur your background. Even with these features on, avoid clutter in the background. Make sure they can’t see that garbage can, or your kids’ Lego mess or anything like that.