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Business Etiquette
“Watch your tone, Arden”, my mother would say to the teenage me when I’d speak to my brother in a certain way. Sometimes I’d answer that I was just asking him to do something. “But your tone was rude”, my mom would reply. When I work with clients on customer service skills, I talk about…
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Spring is a great time to make changes and that includes a job change. The economy is getting better and better and I’m seeing a lot more job postings out there. Here are some tips for making sure you are a stand-out candidate who gets the job offer. Do your research on the organization. Look…
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A few months ago I wrote a blog post about my experience at a networking event where I was talking to someone who was ready to continue networking but didn’t know how to gracefully end the conversation. The blog post was titled “‘I’d like to freshen my drink” and other little white lies.”
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I love my job. In fact, despite (currently) making less money than I did when I had a corporate job, I have never been happier. But there are hazards to being an etiquette consultant.
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There is a FedEx Kinkos near my house that I’ve patronized a few times. The last two times I’ve visited the store I was helped be a very nice man.
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A colleague of mine contacted me about giving a business etiquette training to a group of Southeast Asian business people visiting Seattle. I have been hired to give trainings on the business etiquette practices and culture of Japanese people so I know how differently Americans and Asians approach business. I find it very interesting, and…
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Last night I watched the first episode of this season’s Celebrity Apprentice. I don’t normally watch it, mostly because I don’t watch a lot of TV, but I was not feeling well so I decided to turn it on. The show is a perfect microcosm of a company. It’s a group of disparate people trying…
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The other night at a networking event I ran into someone I had met at another event. We were chatting, when during a somewhat awkward pause he looked at his plate and said, These chicken wings are really good. I’m going to get some more.” He walked away and went to the buffet and started…
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The other day I received an email stating I had not been selected as a speaker for the next Ignite Seattle event. At Ignite, people apply to speak for five minutes where you can have only 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. The people who attend Ignite tend to be self-identified geeks, so…
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This is a guest post by Ann Kruse, creator of The Savvy Advisor. Momma raised me to believe that interrupting others is rude. Then I grew up and entered the world of business meetings. Sheer survival taught me that there are times when interrupting is necessary. It took me years to be able to interrupt…
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