Etiquette Consulting Inc

Tools to help you avoid Social Faux Pas

In a world where image is everything, you must make your brand stand out in order to attain your goals.

Jules Hirst, Etiquette Expert

Category Archives: Business Etiquette

German Manners Watchdog Says Kissing at Work Is Form of ‘Terrorism’

Workplace RomanceA Ger­man man­ners watch­dog was call­ing Thurs­day for a total ban on work col­leagues kiss­ing one another in the office, say­ing that the peck on the cheek is a form of “terrorism.”

The Knigge Soci­ety — Knigge trans­lates as eti­quette or cor­rect behav­iour — says the prac­tice has flour­ished in offices around Ger­many in recent years, with women kiss­ing women and men kiss­ing women, some­times even twice in the way of the French.

It says it has received wor­ried calls from Berlin, Munich and Dus­sel­dorf over recent months about what to do if some­one should attempt to kiss them in greeting.

Hans-Michael Klein, the chair­man of the group, said, “This is valid imme­di­ately. There should be no kiss­ing, at least not in the office.”

Klein explained, “The sus­pi­cion for many remains that there is, or may be, an erotic com­po­nent to the kiss­ing. Kiss­ing sim­ply gets on the nerves of many at work. It is a form of ter­ror. In busi­ness the hand­shake is con­sid­ered the cor­rect greet­ing rit­ual. Stand apart from one another approx­i­mately 60cm [24in] and shake.”

Any closer, he said, would be cross­ing over a “socially defined dis­tance zone.”

Klein added that, while he had respect for the French habit, and the Russ­ian one of men kiss­ing men, this was not the Ger­man way. He added that it was an affec­ta­tion of the so-called Schickim­icki set — the in-crowd.

Source:
Pub­lished August 10, 2011| NewsCore

WORK PLACE ETIQUETTE ~ CUBICLE WORLD

When giv­ing a work­shop on work­place pol­i­tics I am always asked to speak on Cubi­cle Eti­quette  So here is a list of things to keep in mind:

 Keep your pri­vate life private

  • If you are hav­ing a pri­vate con­ver­sa­tion either on the phone or with a co-worker step into a con­fer­ence room or go out­side. your cubi­cle neigh­bors don’t want or need to hear about your sen­si­tive matters

Don’t soil the air

  • what smells good to you may not smell good to your cubi­cle neighbors.
  • avoid using too much cologne or perfume
  • cer­tain foods give off unplea­sur­able aro­mas….  fish, hard broiled egg, cer­tain eth­nic foods use your break room

Dec­o­rate with taste

  • use good judg­ment and avoid things that are con­tro­ver­sial…. this includes things that are polit­i­cal, spir­i­tual, sen­sual or cultural

Respect thy co worker

  • try not lis­ten in on other peo­ples conversations
  • when walk­ing by another person’s cubi­cle try not to look in
  • avoid car­ry­ing on con­ver­sa­tions out­side of a co-workers cubicle
  • don’t chime in on other peo­ples conversations
  • give them the same respect as you would want

Jules Hirst is a sought after speaker and a rec­og­nized eti­quette coach. She con­ducts lec­tures, work­shops, sem­i­nars and webi­na­rs in busi­ness and social eti­quette. Jules co-author Power of Civil­ity where she shares strate­gies and tools for build­ing an excep­tional pro­fes­sional image.

Jules can be reached at: www.forajulproductions.com or 310−425−3160

Flip-Flops Number One Faux Pas in The Workplace

With sum­mer upon us, a quick reminder about sum­mer work­place attire. Accord­ing to a sur­vey by Opin­ion Research Com­pany, flip-flops are the biggest fash­ion faux pas for sum­mer fol­lowed by miniskirts com­ing in sec­ond and strap­less tops third. Sure the weather is warmer and every­one wants to be relaxed, but you need to remem­ber that your clothes and how they fit are a rep­re­sen­ta­tion of you in the work­place. A good rule of thumb is to dress for the job you want not the job you have. This will help you stand out and get you rec­og­nized for your pro­fes­sion­al­ism. Other inap­pro­pri­ate arti­cles of cloth­ing include shorts, exer­cise attire, stretch pants, ten­nis shoes with holes and Crocs.

Here are a few options for busi­ness casual attire:

Men

  • Pleated khaki trouser with belt
  • Cot­ton twill or cor­duroy trousers with belt
  • Button-down shirt
  • Polo shirt or crew­neck sweater
  • Suede or leather shoes

Women

  • Skirt no shorter than 2’ above the knee
  • Cot­ton or blend trousers
  • Light weight sweater or blouse
  • Low heeled shoes or flats

Jules Hirst is a sought after speaker and a rec­og­nized eti­quette coach. She con­ducts lec­tures, work­shops, sem­i­nars and webi­na­rs in busi­ness and social eti­quette. Jules is co-authored Power of Civil­ity where she shares strate­gies and tools for build­ing an excep­tional pro­fes­sional image.

Jules can be reached at: www.forajulproductions.com or 310−425−3160

THE HANDSHAKE: IT SPEAKS VOLUMES

Proper Handshake PictureDid you know that your hand­shake speaks for you? It’s true. Your hand­shake is part of the non-verbal com­mu­ni­ca­tion that peo­ple use to form an opin­ion about you. Your hand­shake is one part of the equa­tion. You are also being judged on your appear­ance, your pos­ture, and even your facial expres­sions. All of these help a per­son form an opin­ion about you and you want to make sure that opin­ion is a pos­i­tive one. The hand­shake is the eas­i­est of these traits to master.

Unless you are in a for­eign coun­try, the accepted greet­ing when meet­ing some­one is the hand­shake. The hand­shake can be bro­ken down into three parts — the ini­ti­a­tion, the grasp and the motion. The ini­ti­a­tion is about tim­ing. Extend­ing your hand too soon makes you look anx­ious; extend­ing it too late makes you look indif­fer­ent. The grasp is about strength. Sim­ply fit your hand into theirs and squeeze firmly. Don’t break the other person’s hand with a crazy death grip. You want to leave a pos­i­tive impres­sion not a painful mem­ory. The motion of the hand­shake is about con­trol. A cou­ple of smooth ups and downs are all that is needed. You are not try­ing to pump water from a well. Fol­low these three easy steps and your hand­shake will leave a pos­i­tive impres­sion each time.

Remem­ber not to squeeze the other person’s hand too hard. You are aim­ing for firm because a firm hand­shake trans­lates pos­i­tively. It tells the per­son that you are con­fi­dent, focused and inter­ested. On the other hand, a weak or limp hand­shake tells the per­son that you are inse­cure, intim­i­dated and uncertain.

In the real world, it is impor­tant to act like a grown up so you always want to use the Proper Handshakeclas­sic hand­shake described above. Don’t high-five. Don’t use some hand­shake you learned in your secret fra­ter­nal orga­ni­za­tion. A sim­ple, firm hand­shake will suf­fice every time.

In con­junc­tion with your hand­shake, you want to make sure you make eye con­tact. Mak­ing eye con­tact tells the per­son that they are impor­tant to you. This is espe­cially true when you are end­ing the meet­ing. Even if the meet­ing did not go as planned, the hand­shake pro­vides you an oppor­tu­nity to leave the per­son with a good impres­sion and mak­ing good eye con­tact reaf­firms that person’s impor­tance to you. Per­fect your hand­shake using the tips above so you can give off pos­i­tive impres­sions each time you meet someone.

Jules Hirst is a sought after speaker and a rec­og­nized eti­quette coach. She con­ducts lec­tures, work­shops, sem­i­nars and webi­nars in busi­ness and social eti­quette. Jules co-authored Power of Civil­ity where she shares strate­gies and tools for build­ing an excep­tional pro­fes­sional image.

Jules can be reached at: www.juleshirst.com or 310−425−3160