Trade Show Booth Staff Training Expert, Susan Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach

First impressions matter, virtually or in-person. “Your appearance, makeup, hair and clothes are as important as your smile. When you project an image of confidence, you are more likely to succeed in business and social relationships,” according New York image consultants.

Whether you’re seen or not, participating in a virtually event doesn’t mean that you have to forget about how you look.

Nowadays, with office-casual attire accepted in most corporate environments, and given that you can work from home in your PJs (if you feel like it), you might under-estimate the value of business attire in a virtual meeting or event environment. Lazing around in PJs or shorts and a tee-shirt with tousled hair makes you look and feel unprofessional. Even if you’re not on video during your virtual event, the way you look definitely affects the way you perform, speak and think!

Check out The CBS Interactive business network’s savvy video about dressing for business.

When you attend a virtual event where you’re seen by your colleagues, consider the following seven tips to make sure that you come across professionally and feel good doing it:

1. Focus on the upper half of your body since head and shoulders are usually the most visible on a webcam.
2. Make sure that the background around you is neat and tidy.
3. Dress professionally. Your attire and grooming are important for you to feel and act more business-like.
4. Make sure that your hair is clean and styled, teeth brushed and face washed and/or shaved. Women, if you normally wear make-up, apply it as usual, and use some powder to get rid of any of those shiny spots.
5. Sit up straight. It shows that you’re interested and paying attention, plus, good posture helps keep your energy level up.
6. Wear a plain shirt or top, or one that has a small insignificant design. Heavily patterned, brightly colored, or too detailed-oriented garments will distract your audience away from your message.
7. Avoid gaudy jewelry like large earrings and chunky necklaces – another major distraction.

The Golden Rule is that “understated works best.” However, even though you’re concentrating more on the upper part of your body, don’t ignore the lower half. If you dress the part, you’ll be the part, geared up for your virtual event success.

In this episode of the Tradeshow Training Minute, Susan Friedmann, CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, shares the most important points every exhibitor needs to know on how to prepare their people to work a trade show.

In Part 1 I talked about three of the six senses or “right-brain directed aptitudes,” that Daniel Pink refers to in his best-selling book, “A Whole New Mind” – namely, design, story, and symphony.

This week I’ll share information about the other three senses, empathy, play, and meaning, and how these relate to your trade show experience.

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Spring is a time when we brush off the winter blahs and just feel the urge to be active. It’s a time when we wake up our body, mind and spirit.

The question is how often do you exercise your exhibiting muscles?
Do you have a regular workout designed to increase your trade show dexterity and boost results?

Whether you’re looking for strength training to increase your competitive edge, flexibility to improve your marketing strategy, or just general overall fitness, a regular workout program is a must.

Find your level of fitness training in the following:

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I recently read an article in Newsweek about being invisible in different cities around the globe by just fitting in with the locals, in the way you dress and behave.

This triggered a thought about how most exhibitors display themselves at trade shows. They have similar booth displays, bland and often uninteresting graphics and an array of stuff that is simply blah!  In other words, there’s very little that jumps out at the visitor with the message “Notice Me!”

Walking down the aisle as an attendee, these exhibits blend into nothingness, and are quite simply, seem to wear the invisibility mantel with pride.  This begs the question, “is this really the role you want to play when you invest serious marketing dollars to be at the show?”

Here are three ideas to consider if you decide you want to be noticed:

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