Jim Fyfe is a friend of mine and a very funny man. He has been an actor, a comedian and is now an educator.
In his younger days, he was asked to judge a contest for students of architecture who were assigned the task of designing a comedy club.
There were two phases to the contest. First, Jim was to look at the models by himself and rank them. Second, he would meet with the students and ask questions as though he were a client. Then he would deliberate and award the prize.
When he met the student whose model he’d ranked #1, Jim was disappointed in his attitude and what he had to say. The guy was sloppily dressed, unshaven, and too cool to care. He held his hand over his mouth while he talked and showed no enthusiasm for his own work.
Jim changed his mind and awarded the prize to another model.
You could say, “Who cares what the student was like? His model was the best!” That’s rational, but human decisions are not always rational. How you come across speaks loudly too.