Business Etiquette Essentials for Women Course, Feb. 24, 2011

Register for the upcoming course, Business Etiquette Essentials for Women:

Date: Feb. 24, 2011
Time: 11:15a - 4:00p (Registration 11:15a) (Lunch included)
Location: Vescio's Cucina, St. Louis Park, MN
Click Here to Register

Women, take your skills to the next level and learn tools for your business success! During this program, you will learn tools that will give you the ability to interact confidently, communicate more effectively, and leverage your power and presence in the workplace.

Topics Covered:
– How Your Voice Can Work Against You
– Impact of Your Business Appearance
– How to Gain Credibility During Introductions and Handshakes
– Impact of Body Language for Women
– Recognizing Indirect Aggression Among Women
– Business Dining Guidance for Women
– Tips for Dining Alone
– Travel Safety
– How to Be Your Own Mentor

Incorporate Etiquette & Civility Into Your New Year's Resolutions

As we start 2011, many of us have made a handful (perhaps even a long list!) of New Year's Resolutions. Do your 2011 resolutions include opportunities for civility and kindness? Do your children's resolutions include manners? Consider creating resolutions for yourself and help your children with their resolutions this year that focus on civility, etiquette, respect, patience, kindness, and making relationships better. You may want to set a goal for yourself in one or more categories. There are so many ways we can be kind and considerate toward others. What can you do to make a difference? What can your children do to make a difference? Everyday is a new opportunity to make a positive impact in someone else's life. If we all commit to doing just one thing more positively in this realm, we help in creating a kinder and more civil society. Here are a few suggestions for the New Year:

Out and About

• Purchase a cup of coffee for a stranger


• Let someone else have the booth or window seat at the restaurant


• Avoid using the phone or similar technology when in a restaurant


• Be considerate when using your cell phone in public such as monitoring the volume of your voice and avoid using phone's speaker capability


• Keep your cell phone put away when checking out at the grocery store


• Avoid giving mean looks to the mother with the screaming child at the store


• Let someone merge in your lane ahead of you while driving
  

At Work

• Give a coworker a handwritten thank you for their help with a project or in meeting a strict deadline


• Stay late to help out a coworker even though it isn't your "responsibility"


• Avoid taking an office mate's chair for a meeting


• Returning an office mate's stapler if you borrowed it


• Don't leave the copier jammed for someone else


• Avoid holding loud conversations outside another's cube


• Avoid leaving rotting food in the refrigerator
  

At Home

• Keep technology away from the table while dining with your family


• Sit down to dinner as a family at least once a week or once a month


• Be a good sport about your children's games no matter if their team wins or loses


• Always RSVP to an invitation


• Treat family with civility by not taking out on them a bad day at work


• Do not interrupt family members when they are speaking
  

Resolutions Children Can Make

• Write thank you notes for gifts within a week of receiving a gift


• Keep the volume on the TV tolerable for the family


• Clean up mess on table at fast food restaurant


• Take clear phone messages


• Knock on a closed door


• Shake hands and not "bump" when meeting someone new

Cross-Cultural Dining Etiquette: "Good Luck" Foods Around the World

Do you have traditional foods in your family that are considered "good luck" to eat on New Year's Day? For example:

• Do you eat 365 black-eyed peas before noon on New Year's Day?
• Do you eat 12 grapes at the stroke of midnight?
• Do you ensure pork is part of the meal?
• Do you ensure cooked greens are part of the meal?

Test your cross-cultural savvy by reviewing the "good luck" foods from around the world and the meaning behind these for New Year's Day. Thank you to Whole Foods Market for sharing this information!

Children's Thank You Note Etiquette: The Art of Gratitude

With the holidays winding down, it is a good time to help your children and teens write thank you notes for their gifts. While the general guidelines of etiquette state that if you have thanked someone in person for a gift, it isn't necessary to send a handwritten thank you note, taking time to express gratitude through handwritten notes is a good skill builder for young people, as well as a welcome surprise for those receiving these notes of gratitude.

Consider age appropriate thank yous:

Children under age nine often love to make their own thank you cards. Provide resources for them to be creative such as fun colored papers, pens, pencils, stickers, and glitter. Adults can help very young children with writing "thank you." No matter the age of the child, they should each sign their own card, even if they haven't mastered the art of signing their name.

Older children and teens may choose to either create their own cards or purchase thank you cards. Adults can provide an opportunity for young people to shop and select their own cards which helps young people to build their confidence and feel "grown up." These young people are often of the age that they are able to create their own sentiments, however, they may still need some encouragement to write.

Some additional tips for thank you notes:

- provide a dictionary for children and teens to use in their writing
- no email thank you notes unless it is simply to let the gift giver know that the gift was received if it was sent by mail; follow up with a handwritten thank you
- send thank yous within a week of receiving the gift, though it is never too late to say "thank you"
- set time aside (schedule if necessary) to write out the thank yous, and make it a fun family event

In our hurried world, by making the time to handwrite thank you notes, your children and teens will build skills in the art of expressing gratitude and graciousness.

Workplace & Leadership Civility Survey - Your Feedback is Important

We need your input!

The Etiquette Centre of Minneapolis is conducting a survey on "Workplace & Leadership Civility" for the upcoming book, The Power of Civility, forthcoming May, 2011. We would really like to know your thoughts, your experiences, and your suggestions. This survey will take approximately 7-10 minutes to complete.

Workplace & Leadership Civility Survey (click here for survey)

Thank you in advance for taking the time to participate in this survey!

Should you have any questions, please contact Laura Barclay at (763) 432-9008 or by e-mail at: laura.barclay@etiquette-centre.com.

Science Behind Kindness and Compassion

Kindness, compassion, civility, respect, empathy, forgiveness, graciousness...why is it that some people seem to display more of these qualities than others? Could you make a list of those you know that either do or don't display these qualities? Which list would you fall in?

The Center for Investigating Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will be conducting research on how qualities such as kindness and compassion actually develop and in turn, could be nurtured.

To learn more about the Center, see: http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/.

Importance of Handwritten Notes

I was reading the September issue of the Costco Connection and was especially interested in this month's debate: "Should students still be taught cursive writing?" I was somewhat surprised that there is even a debate. The replies against learning cursive seem to indicate that all is needed is technology and that cursive writing is no longer used or important.

From an etiquette perspective, there is a time and place for both technology and cursive writing. Cursive is important for handwritten thank you notes, letters, invitations, and more. Think of how you feel when someone makes the effort to send you a handwritten note rather than an email or a text. What impression does it make on you? Does it feel more personal? Handwritten notes go a long way in making impactful positive impressions. As people move more and more to technology, you will really stand out and be remembered by making the effort to actually write by hand. It is not old-fashioned or stuffy. Rather, it is courteous, memorable, and creates a personal connection you cannot make with an email or text.

To read the article, click here.