> As an employee of a big consulting firm, I'll second that. How and who you present your ideas to is much more important than the ideas themselves.

My wife actually works in procurement for a pretty big European oil company, and she had the "chance" to attend a couple of pitch presentations made by BCG, McKinsey and a few others for a "green energy" thingie. You're right, after all was said and done the company CEO was positively more impressed by the guys who looked and acted better during the presentations, and not necessarily by those who had the better ideas but had presented them more nervously. Also, having the looks (no matter if you're man or female) and height helps a lot.