As for speech patterns I have to agree that making the listener work harder does not help the speaker get their point across. You don’t want the audience to check out before the message is delivered.
Know your audience. Everyone has biases.
My D had purple hair once at work (I wasn’t a fan) ! But she works with artists who all thought that was great.
She didn’t dress up much–but blended in nicely in her environment.
Now she’s upgrading wardrobe and becoming a bit more “traditional” because those are the people she is interacting with on a daily basis. She can communicate her ideas and her talent can come across more easily because a physical barrier (and a bias) is removed from the equation. Was she just as talented with purple hair?–of course!
First impressions do count. The “weird genius” whose talents are already well-known will be welcome for those talents. But that is pretty rare. Everyone else has to prove themselves. And first you need the interview.
Elbert Hubbard (The Notebooks of Elbert Hubbard–1927) had a story I loved.
It was in direct response to “what I wear shouldn’t make a difference to people”.(a common discussion in teen years)
He felt very strongly that it shouldn’t matter. But he tested it to the extreme.
He dressed up in an outfit similar to prison garb (today it would be an orange jumpsuit) and traveled along the road. This was in the 20’s or earlier on rural roads where normally people would be willing to help a stranger. He was hoping that once he spoke to someone that they would accept him. He was a good guy. He didn’t get very far before he gave up.
Guess what? People (surprise!) judged him without ever speaking to him. He was harassed by police.He couldn’t even get a glass of water. His conclusion? First impressions meant a lot more than he realized.
