I recently taught a social skills etiquette class to some high school students from Puget Sound Community School. One of the topics I covered was poise. I asked my students what poise meant to them. They replied “good posture”, “being confident” and “grace”. While those are part of poise there is more to it.

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I’ve been working with a client who is preparing for an important speech. One of the things we discussed is the protocol of introducing someone. Many speakers are unaware of proper speaking protocol, so I thought I’d share some tips.

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I asked my Facebook fans for ideas for a blog post and got some really good questions. They were focused on job search etiquette.

Q. When meeting a potential employer for coffee or a meal to discuss the possibility of working together who picks up the tab? And how do you handle the awkwardness when the check is delivered?

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When you are an etiquette consultant people love to either share with you their etiquette horror stories or ask for etiquette advice. I love that my friends and business associates want to tell me their stories and trust me for advice.

I thought it would be fun to feature some of the etiquette faux pas and questions I’ve gotten over the last month or so.

Etiquette faux pas

A business owner discovered he wasn’t going to be able to deliver on a project for a client, so three months after their last communication he sent an email breaking the bad news.

My response

Never ever give bad news to a client over email. Call them. Also, if you value your clients you should get back to them within 24 hours of their email or correspondence. If you don’t have an answer, communicate to them that you will have an answer by x date.

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It’s that time of year when businesses host their annual holiday party. The corporate event can be a wonderful time to make and strengthen connections, or leave you disgraced and possibly fired for your lack of good judgment. Avoid these six pitfalls to steer clear of the latter.   

Dressing Inappropriately

Follow the attire description on the invitation. With few exceptions, the company holiday party is a festive event and one that calls for festive attire, not jeans and a t-shirt. A little, but not too little, black dress for women and a dark suit for men are always appropriate. Women, be careful not to show too much skin. Don’t leave people questioning your professionalism. [...]

I just attended a small business roundtable group which serves as a forum for entrepreneurs seeking business advice and mentoring. The facilitator couldn’t be there so we were on our own to lead the discussion with a couple of suggested topics. Unfortunately that led to trouble.

We started out talking about economic projections but a couple of people moved the discussion to politics. Only a few people participated in the political conversation and they all seemed to agree with each other. There seemed to be an assumption that we all felt the same way. I was very uncomfortable and I suspect I wasn’t the only one.

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I just experienced a perfect example of how not to do sales. Someone I met at a networking event followed up with me by leaving a voicemail message marked urgent. He said he wanted to talk. Didn’t say why he was calling but wanted me to call him right away. I smelled a hardcore sales call. However, I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was calling to talk about hiring my as a consultant or to build a relationship. [...]

There is quite a buzz about the H1N1 or swine flu. And, for good reason given how dangerous it’s proving to be with younger people. Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself and others from getting sick. [...]

In a recent yoga class we were asked to switch the cross of our legs and change how we intertwine our fingers so the other thumb is on top. It wasn’t easy to do and it felt very uncomfortable. It reminded me that habits are so deeply engrained in us. [...]

I subscribe to a few different blogs of people I admire or enjoy. One recent blog post surprised me as it seemed out of character for this blogger. It was a bit like a brag about how busy he was and why it was making him a better person. He outlined minute by minute what he was doing one day. A few times the timeline included the statement that he was chatting with people while “picking off a few emails” or taking phone calls. He went on stating how full every minute was. Even when he was alone he was doing something – email, writing, etc.  He seemed exhausted by his life while also talking about how necessary it is to work like this because he’s “out to win.” [...]