Karen with Sarah McLachlan

My client asks me, “Are these pants too short?” as he stands up to practice a sales pitch.

“Yes”, I say. “Just slightly! Can you pull them down just a bit?”

After he adjusts the pants, all looks great.

But there’s one problem: he has just added The Futz Factor to his sales pitch!

“Futz” is either a Yiddish word, or a word I’ve made up. No… wait! Google says: “deal with (something) in a trifling way; fiddle with.”

You, like my client, have attire that you futz with! You’re pulling down your pant leg. OR (and I see many females do this one) you futz with your blazer that has no zipper or buttons and you constantly make sure the two sides meet somewhere in the middle. OR you’re pulling up your pants. OR you’re pushing up your sleeves.

You have enough to think about as you begin your million-dollar pitch! You don’t need to add in a conscious or subconscious desire to fix something about your attire.

Observe how performers don’t futz. Recently singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan (a friend – long story – and yes, here goes some more shameless name dropping) performed in Dallas. Not once did she touch her spaghetti straps to make sure they were in the right place! Not once did she futz with her great leather pants… even though she constantly moved between sitting at a piano bench to standing main stage with a guitar!

Sarah had no Futz Factor.

Stop futzing! How?

• Don’t buy clothes that have a Futz Factor.
• Save your current Futz Factor clothes for other events where you are not speaking.
• Fix the futz culprit ahead of time if that is the perfect jeans, blazer or blouse you want to wear – by using double-sided tape, putting rubber bands on the sleeves, or getting your outfit altered ahead of time.

When you talk – seated, standing, or at the lectern – all eyes are on you. Sit or stand with poise. Smile. Have great voice projection. And don’t futz.

© 2020 Karen Cortell Reisman, All rights reserved       

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Karen Cortell Reisman, MS, Executive Communication Author & Speaker