Personal and professional turning points can make some public figures rethink their image. Political campaigns, significant birthdays and new jobs have sent scores of prominent people to image experts, seeking a make-over of minute, or monumental, proportions.
The results aren`t always good. Los Angeles image consultant Anne Ready of Ready for Media cautions that a make-over is a delicate thing.
”It can backfire on you,” she warned.
Sen. Alan Cranston learned that the hard way during a failed bid for the presidency in 1984. According to Cranston`s Washington press secretary, Murray Flander, the consultants shouldn`t have fixed what wasn`t broken. They dyed the senator`s hair red, and it looked more like orange.
Flander said Cranston`s advisers thought that under bright television lights, the senator`s head, sparsely covered with thin white hair, looked
”virtually, if not totally, bald.”
”The problem with Alan has been his high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. That, plus the appearance of total baldness because of sparse hair, led at least this one person to recommend that he dye his hair, which, unfortunately, he succumbed to during the campaign,” Flander said.
”It was pretty silly. Cranston is a man absolutely without vanity. It was bad political advice.”
Secrets to success
Ready gave her list of how to approach a make-over in the public eye, without becoming a victim of the pitfalls.
– Make subtle changes so that you look better and better. Avoid having your new image become the story.
– Enhance your natural strengths.
”At Ready for Media, we put a client on video in the situation they will be in. They and the image consultant can assess their strengths better that way.”
– Eliminate the distractions. Ready said dangling earrings are a television no-no.
– Include a communications make-over to decide if you need physical changes.
”If they are a skilled communicator, they (the audience, constituents)
will love them and follow them, no matter their physical appearance.”
Picture this
– Take pictures of yourself, redone in your new image, and judge for yourself before you appear in public. ”You will get a sense of how the change is going to play in print or broadcast. A photo can hang around for a long time.”
– For women, be especially careful if you adopt a glamorous image.
”The risk of looking more glamorous is that you distract from the purpose of your communication.”
– It`s an asset to be beautiful in the public eye.
”Women have a distinct advantage because there are so many ways they can go with their image.”
Steer clear of `dowdy`
– A serious message doesn`t require women to present a dowdy appearance.
”You can still enhance your sophistication, your classiness and dress appropriately.”
– Pick the enhancement that you are missing. Ready said you can enhance seriousness, soften your toughness or add to your authority by changing anything from your communication to your hairstyle, glasses or jacket.
– Remember the famous saying, ”Give me the courage to change what I can, the grace to accept what I cannot and the wisdom to know the difference.”
