What to wear when you’re speaking — revisited

At Toastmasters, I learned the importance of dressing appropriately when giving a speech. Usually, this means wearing a suit. I once experimented with not wearing a suit to give a contest speech, and it didn’t work out.

As a Distinguished Toastmaster, what do I think of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wearing a khaki sweatshirt, cargo pants, and boots to address a joint session of the United States Congress? It was the right choice.

President Zelenskyy just stepped off the battlefield and went straight to a plane to Washington. Do you think he had time to stop by the dry cleaners to pick up his suit? Where would you even get your suit dry cleaned in Kyiv when there isn’t enough electricity for hospitals? And if he showed up in a custom-tailored merino wool suit, you would complain about him wasting money on himself while his people are freezing and starving. A suit was the worst thing President Zelenskyy could have worn.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the president of a nation fighting for its survival. He shows us this through his clothing.

The clothes we wear are part of the message we give to our audience. Sometimes, it is a suit — especially when we want to project professional authority. Other times, it’s a casual outfit like at the Loscon panels I moderated. Some authors wore fedoras…