How to look more professional

Many career women often find themselves stagnating at some point or other. Promotions are hard to come by and may be given to men instead. PHOTO| FILE| NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• Polish up your act by reading aloud at home. Record yourself as you speak and try to imagine how to improve.
• With time, you will realise that you are getting very good at presentation. The last thing you need to pay attention to is body language.
• It is very sensitive and tends to hold back many ladies in the corporate sector. Do not sulk when you are given a ticking off by your boss. Never be seen rolling your eyes in exasperation.

By IRENE NJOROGE-KRISTIAN
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Many career women often find themselves stagnating at some point or other. Promotions are hard to come by and may be given to men instead.

Sometimes, women are held back by not appearing professional. If you wish to rise fast at work and start being perceived as executive material, use these tips to help you:

Improve your communication style:

The most important aspect when trying to move up is how well you communicate, be it body language or written and spoken communication. To improve your writing, attend classes on communication skills. Make sure your documents and presentation materials are top-notch in terms of grammar, style and effectiveness of the message you wish to put across.

Add some special touches of your own to create a signature style. Speak well and fluently. The more polished you sound the better for you.

Polish up your act by reading aloud at home. Record yourself as you speak and try to imagine how to improve.

With time, you will realise that you are getting very good at presentation. The last thing you need to pay attention to is body language.

It is very sensitive and tends to hold back many ladies in the corporate sector. Do not sulk when you are given a ticking off by your boss. Never be seen rolling your eyes in exasperation. Try to maintain a neutral expression as much as possible.

Look into your dressing:

Do not appear well-dressed on a certain day, and poorly-dressed on others. Set aside a special career wardrobe or your own personal uniform specifically geared to help you succeed in looking a certain way at all times.

Clothes that help make you look efficient and capable include: crisp white blouses, pencil skirts, blazers, stockings, medium height heels, ladies cufflinks, and tailored trousers.

Clothes which will let you down and diminish your authority include: sleeveless dresses and dress tops, leggings, flat shoes, flowing coats, flowery clothes, screaming colours such as orange, yellow, and bright pink.

If you wish to be promoted as quickly as possible, start dressing for the position you are after.  It pays to look powerful even if you are not.

Office etiquette

You could be unknowingly sabotaging your easy ride to the top by your day to day behaviour at work. If you remove your shoes and wear slippers, or eat chips and mandazi in the office making it smell like a fast food joint, you may not be promoted.

If you sit around gossiping, laughing and telling off-colour jokes and stories with the junior staff, you might think that nobody notices, but everything you say and do is known.

In fact, these days there is CCTV everywhere, so take care of your conduct even when you think nobody can see or hear you.