Course Outcomes

This business etiquette workshop will:

  • Prepare participants to meet and greet colleagues, clients, and customers.
  • Suggest appropriate attire for various dress codes.
  • Review communication technology and the proper way to handle email, voicemail, text, and social media.
  • Prepare participants to better navigate office politics.
  • Examine the rules of dining etiquette.

Course Overview

The world may have changed a lot in the last 100 years, but manners still matter in business.  If your employees could use a dose of professional presence or you simply wish to give your staff an extra edge, this workshop delivers.   How to Get Along and Get Ahead with Better Manners is a fun, fast-paced, and embarrassment-free course guaranteed to improve the social savvy of all who attend.  

Program Objectives

At this program’s conclusion, participants should be able to:

  • Effectively represent themselves and their organizations at business meetings and other networking events.
  • Choose clothes that communicate a professional image in any environment.
  • Use smartphones appropriately.
  • Think before sending email.
  • Navigate a business meal.
  • Use LinkedIn and other social media tools with purpose.

The following outline highlights some of the course’s key learning points. As part of your training program, we will modify content as needed to meet your business objectives. Upon request, we will provide you with a copy of the participant materials prior to the session(s).

Workshop Outline

The Algorithm: Understanding Manners

Image matters, and people’s views and opinions of us come from the countless impressions we make each day. This program opens with a candid discussion about workplace image, manners, and the value of behaving professionally on the job.
 

Let’s Be Friends: Networking Made Easy

Are you a people magnet? Do you know how to build rapport with others? Are you comfortable at networking events? If not, never fear.  This course segment explores the ins and outs of meeting and greeting people in business.  Through a series of interactive activities, participants will learn best practices for offering handshakes, sharing business cards, writing thank-you notes, and planning follow-up activities.
 

Enhancing Your Profile: Looking Good in the Workplace

“Does our director own a mirror?” “Where does she think she works?” “Could that be any shorter?” Every day questions such as these are asked in offices throughout the world. Sadly, the people who are the focus of inquiry don’t always know their choices are credibility killers. This portion of the course takes a frank look at clothing and grooming and their impact on how those elements affect professional presence.
 

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?: Managing Technology

Technology is great, but it’s no substitute for good judgment. Few people, however, receive training on when and how to use the tools and gadgets they employ every day to communicate with others. In fact, many a businessperson has learned the hard way that sound and words move faster than ever before. Regrettably, messages sent in haste can cause more problems than they solve. During this program segment, participants will examine numerous communication tools and the dos and don’ts for using them well.
 

Errors Found: Avoiding Bad Table Manners

“The guy next to me was a total pig. I just couldn’t wait to get away!” Nobody wants to be that guy, but few people want to tell him his table manners leave something to be desired. Whether it’s which fork to use or the correct way to pass something to others, this portion of the workshop addresses table manners and the proper way to use elements commonly found on most tables.
 

Virtual You: Taking Charge of Your Online Image

Whether you’re liking, linking, or sharing information, you make yourself vulnerable to critics in cyberspace. When you don’t know how to manage social media and your online reputation, often others will do the work for you, and not necessarily in a way you would like. This final segment reviews the essential information people should know to protect themselves from online embarrassment or worse.
 

At the program’s conclusion, participants should have a renewed sense of professional presence and a list of actions they can take to manage their reputations on and offline.