Check your appearance.  Make sure your clothes are pressed and clean.  Check your personal hygiene.  Be sure to check your breath.  You don’t want to knock your date over with bad breath!  Instead, knock him/her over with looking the best that you can.  Watch the perfume and cologne.  Don’t go overboard with the good smelling fragrances.  Comb the hair, tuck in the shirt tail, and polish the shoes .  Now put on a great smile and have fun.

Meet the parents.  Whether you are nervous or not, you want to make a good impression on your date and the parents.  When meeting the parents shake their hands and look them in the eye while introducing yourself.  When leaving, tell them it was nice to meet them.  Young men remember  to hold the door for your date while leaving the house and while getting into the car.  Your date will be impressed with your  manners.

Eating at the restaurant.  You want to remember that you are trying to make a good impression.  Remember to chew with your mouth closed, don’t talk with food in your mouth,  no burping, don’t put your face in your plate and shovel your food in like it’s your last meal, put your napkin in your lap, don’t use a toothpick, and young men please hold the chair for your date.   This is your time  to shine with your date and friends.

Remember to thank your chaperons for giving of their time to make prom night possible.  It takes a lot of community effort to host prom.  People appreciate it when their efforts are recognized.

Ginny Brown
The Etiquette School of Northeast Georgia
Hoschton, Georgia (Hamilton Mill area, Dacula, GA)
Email Ginny Brown
678-889-4814 office
770-296-4159 cell

http://etiquette-blog.com

Why as a parent would you want your child to take etiquette classes?  When someone mentions the word etiquette to you, what do immediately think?  Do you think “my child knows not to chew with food in their mouth,  knows to say please and thank you, knows not to scream at the dinner table,  and knows basically how to behave”?  When I talk about children, I don’t just mean our young children but also our teenagers.

Etiquette is more than just the things I mentioned  in the above paragraph.  As I mentioned previously in one of the first articles, etiquette is all about respect and courtesy.  We all want to be treated with respect and courtesy.  I also talked about having manners gives our children confidence and increases their self-esteem.  What parent wouldn’t want their child to be confident and have good self-esteem?  Etiquette and manners encompass a number of things.  Dining skills are a large part of etiquette, but they are just a part.  Dining skills involve more than knowing to chew with your mouth closed, knowing burping isn’t allowed at the table, and knowing that it isn’t acceptable behavior to scream at the table at home or in a restaurant.  It is about knowing how to set a table properly, knowing the correct way to hold your utensils, where to place them while eating, knowing what to do with an olive pit in your mouth, etc.  These are just a few of  many dining skills that one should know.

Etiquette involves how to meet someone.  Knowing how to introduce someone and what do you do when you are introduced to someone are etiquette skills.  Etiquette involves knowing how to make that first impression.  Do you know how to make that impression when you go for your first job interview or your college interview?  Having this knowledge makes a difference on what kind of impression you make.

Etiquette involves knowing how to answer the telephone and how to make a polite call.  In the business world, how many times have you been put on hold to never hear back from the receptionist or to finally hear back after being on hold for five minutes?  This isn’t making a good impression and reflects on the person answering and on the employer.  Our children also need to know how to make and receive calls.  Do you  really want your child screaming into the phone telling you that the call is for you? 

What does your child or young person do when they receive a gift or when someone has done something for them?  Do they write a thank you note, and I do not mean by e-mail?  Do they know how to write a thank you note?  This is a part of etiquette.

Etiquette really is about the way we handle ourselves in our daily lives.  It does consist of more than just  knowing how to act at the dinner table.  As parents, we need to strive to offer and give our children the best opportunities which are available.  They are our future, and we want them to succeed and reach their full potential.  Having good manners and a sense of etiquette will open many doors that otherwise would  not be opened.   As always, comments or questions are welcome.

Questions or comments are always appreciated.

Ginny Brown
The Etiquette School of Northeast Georgia
Hoschton, Georgia (Hamilton Mill area, Dacula, GA)
Email Ginny Brown
678-889-4814 office
770-296-4159 cell

http://etiquette-blog.com

Importance of Introduction Skills

The person who is knowledgeable about the rules of introductions will feel comfortable and confident in their interview.  Having this skill, the person is able to concentrate on the interview and present himself in the best manner that he can.  This also applies to anyone interviewing for a job.  Knowing how to meet and greet someone shows respect and confidence.  These are two qualities which will enable  you to make the best impression you can in securing the job.