Luckily, Nikos Giannopoulos knew exactly what that something would be when he walked into the Oval Office: a fan.
And thanks to that one, rather unusual object, the photo of the special education teacher, the US president and the first lady has gone viral.
The 29-year-old had travelled to Washington from his home after being named Rhode Island Teacher of the Year.
Along with teachers from every state, he was invited to the White House to meet Donald Trump - and he made very specific decisions about what to wear.
In a Facebook post, he revealed he wore a rainbow pin, in "gratitude to the LGBTQ community", a blue jacket and black fan to "celebrate the joy and freedom of gender nonconformity", and an anchor necklace in honour of the Rhode Island.
It was the fan - which belonged to Mr Giannopoulos's partner - which really stole the show.
He told NPR that, despite the president's immediate appreciation for the fan, which he praised as "stylish", Mr Giannopoulos was told by White House staff to put it away for the official picture.
But he decided to quietly keep it by his side until it was time for the photo.
"I just asked the president, 'Do you mind if I use the fan for the photo?' He said, 'Absolutely go for it.' So I popped my fan and did my pose."
The result? A viral photo which has been "liked" thousands of times.

The man, who is in his 30s, was attacked at the property in Argenta Walk at about 04:00 GMT on Monday.
Chief Insp Stephen McCauley said: "We believe an altercation of some kind has taken place in the house which has led to the man being stabbed."
He added a number of men "hurriedly" left the house. The victim's injury is not believed to be life-threatening.

Efforts to find the family began in August after India accepted the woman, named Geeta, was one of its citizens.
Geeta, who has speech and hearing impairments, was about 11 when she is believed to have strayed into Pakistan.
Her plight emerged following a Bollywood film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which told the story of a Pakistani girl who cannot speak and is trapped in India.
For most of her time in Pakistan, Geeta has lived at an Edhi shelter home in Karachi, reports the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani. Staff at the charity gave her her name - she is now thought to be about 22.
"The Indian high commissioner has lately sent a family photo to us and Geeta has recognised the family," Anwer Kazmi, a senior official at the foundation, told AFP news agency.
"We have showed the picture to Geeta and she says they are her family... We hope she will confirm the family identification during the Skype chat through sign language."
Geeta was unable to provide a name, address or any documentation to the Pakistani border guards who found her over a decade ago. Nor could she explain how she ended up across the border.
Once her travel documents are sorted, she could leave for India as early as 26 October, Faisal Edhi, the son of Pakistan's leading charity worker Abdul Sattar Edhi, said on Thursday.
The Edhi Foundation was trying to arrange a Skype call between Geeta and her family, who live in the Indian state of Bihar, he added.
It was not clear when the Skype chat would be held.
Although it was long thought that Geeta was Indian, it was only in August that the authorities in Delhi accepted her as a citizen - and said she would be brought back home soon.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said then that she would be handed over to her family after a DNA test.
It takes a certain something to steal the limelight when standing next to the world's most powerful man.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A man has been stabbed in the back during a house party in Ballymena, County Antrim.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
An Indian woman stranded in Pakistan for a decade has identified her family in photos sent from across the border.