Rambling confuses the listener and damages speaker credibility. Whether you’re addressing an audience of one or one thousand, determine what you want them to leave with. How clear is your message? Is it relevant to the situation? I have always been fascinated with political debates. I like observing if a candidate responds with clarity and conveys a strong message to any question that is asked.

Beth Comstock made history by being GE’s first female vice chair. One piece of advice given to her by Jeff Emmelt early in her career was to ask:  “Why aren’t you speaking up and voicing your opinion? It doesn’t do you or the company any good when you don’t.”

Beth is quoted in the article admitting a struggle with self-confidence. In working with clients, I have found that this is one of the main reasons people are not promoted or perceived as confident. Women have a bigger challenge because they seem to think that their opinion has to be right on target before they speak. Not so, because an opinion, even when not completely accepted, might start a path to a solution. Speaking up helps your audience to get to know you just as presenting your message is critical in being seen as a leader.

Men’s jackets and suits come in short, regular and long. Recently, when shopping with a client, the sales person handed him a regular 42. Because of his height that would be the right size. However, I felt he would look much better and more elegant in a 42 long. The reason we ended up with the 42 long is because he measures with more length from head to waist so the longer jacket proportionally looked like better fit. Rules can always be broken if it works in the eyes of the beholder!

I encouraged a client to go on a high profile interview because the more he received exposure to leaders, the better the opportunities might be for him in the future. (The old saying who you know has been long been replaced by who knows you!) Often, folks miss opportunities because they lack confidence or are afraid of interviewing. Practice is good, however exposure and practice is much more effective in building confidence so that when the opportunity arises, you’re ready!

For women who fervently oppose makeup, try tinted moisturizer (We all need moisturizer.), a well-defined eyebrow and a bit of color on the lips and check. Burt’s Bees is one of many brands that offer a lip stain combined with a chap stick. Women’s lips never should look dry.

For men, even those who prefer a shadow beard, the rest of the face must be well groomed, with trimmed eye brows and no other facial hair out of place. It is amazing how popular men’s products for the face, moisturizers and exfoliates currently are. Also, instead of the heavy colognes of yesterday, light fragrances are the rule now.

We live in such a fast paced environment that we quickly try to get the heart of an issue. Unfortunately, we sometimes do this by jumping ahead and thinking about what to say instead of focusing on what is being said. If we all listen to the intent of what is being said, we will have a better understanding on how to develop solutions to problems. Seek to understand, then to be understood.

Shoe designers have us coming and going. What shoes should we wear for each occasion? Recently a major department store had a sale:  buy one pair and get one free. What a genius idea and seductive way to reduce a shoe inventory and get us to go nutty buying shoes we do not need!

Recently I was getting ready to go to a conference. My biggest challenge was how could I limit my shoes to four pairs? You need shoes to workout, a dressy dinner event, a gala and then to host a meeting. Also, the conference center was a mile away from the rooms. Why couldn’t I just bite the bullet and wear workout shoes the whole time? After all, athletic shoes in all colors are the rage.

I did end up bringing too many shoes but my feet felt good as my image!

It is not easy to dress for the masses, especially on television. In today’s race for the White house, the male candidates have it much easier. Their choices are simple because it comes down to the shirt and tie combination. Their main battle is the fit of the jacket. President Obama has his suits tailored to fit him so he always looks elegant and crisp. He is also tall and slim, so his main issue is look stately and in command in an approachable manner.

For the heavy set candidate, it can be difficult to not look rumbled and clown-like. Women, on the other hand, have an even more difficult task. Their clothing choices are either too bland or tend to look matronly. Another challenge is that they must look feminine but like they’re still in command.

Television will add at least 20 pounds so clothing choices must accent the slim side of women. We are now in the midst of a presidential campaign so look for the dress style wins in the candidates and learn from those that miss the mark.

Recently, I had a service person come in (happened to be the owner) who began to tell me what I had done wrong instead of saying there may be a problem but we will do our best to fix it. Can you imagine a consultant or coach like myself right off the bat, telling a client that s/he has tremendous problems? Or you, as a new team leader or team member telling the group: We have problems we cannot begin to solve?

I am not saying that we need to be a Pollyanna but can’t anything somehow be made better? I understand the owner might have been under tremendous pressure but if he doesn’t work for repeat customers, that pressure may just get a lot bigger and lead to more serious problems.

For those on the road more than three times a month for business or pleasure, here’s a refresher on what to pack. Always have a quick-start kit of toiletries, packed and to ready to go. Every third trip, refresh the see through bag  with items, such as certain hair or grooming products (women– makeup) (men- shaving and colognes), that may need substituting or replacing.

Keep some zip lock plastic bags in different sizes around. They are very useful to pack items that may leak (The Container Store also carries leak proof bottles.) or food/beverages you could not finish in the airport. Try to pack items in clear cases. I find Travel Smith is a great tool to pick up some new ideas on practical packing. http://www.travelsmith.com/travelcenter/tools/packing-guide/