Social Etiquette

I thought you should know (insert bad manner here)…

By Arden / January 13, 2020 /

A colleague of mine has a podcast called How Can I Say This where she discusses everyday communication conundrums. Beth Buelow, is the founder of the podcast and owner of ZOPA Consulting, Someone submitted a question to her about how to tell someone they chew with their mouth open, so naturally, as an etiquette expert,…

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How to be more gracious

By Arden / July 28, 2019 /

I’ve been thinking about graciousness lately. A characteristic that I think is so important in our dealings with others – whether it’s coworkers, friends or family. Being gracious was not something I was taught growing up. My dad role modeled some aspects of graciousness but it wasn’t until I became an adult that I started…

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How to help an ailing friend

By Arden / July 10, 2019 /

A lot of people in my life, including me, have had surgeries lately requiring assistance with daily tasks. When you have to use a walker or crutches, can’t be weight bearing or move your arm, it makes doing routine tasks challenging – things like shopping, cooking, bathing, dressing, cleaning, etc.

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How to respond when you’re thrown under the bus

By Arden / April 16, 2019 /

Work relationships, like any relationship, can be difficult. Unlike our friends, we can’t pick our coworkers, and sometimes we simply don’t like the people we have to work with. People can be petty, mean, undermining and challenging. Case in point, a friend of mine shared with me that a coworker of hers criticized her and…

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How to get along with others

By Arden / February 1, 2019 /

People can be frustrating, annoying, difficult – you name the emotion – basically not easy to get along with. Or can they? In our little worlds, as in our minds, when it comes to relationships with others it’s easy to think that we do things the right way and that others are wrong – whether…

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How to handle those awkward networking situations

By Arden / December 28, 2018 /

If your New Year’s resolution is to grow your contacts, get a new job or new clients, networking is one of the best ways to accomplish your goals. Yet, so many people dislike networking because it can feel so awkward. If you are one of those people, don’t feel badly. It’s hard to make small…

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Gratitude Unwrapped

By Arden / November 30, 2018 /

Tis the season to focus on our gratitude. I always love taking turns  at Thanksgiving to share what we are grateful for. While I usually say the same things, it’s a good reminder of all the blessings I have in my life and what really matters.

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Is chivalry still relevant today?

By Arden / September 28, 2018 /

I’m often asked in my presentations if chivalrous acts are still appropriate for men today, such as standing when a woman walks into a room or allowing her to get on the elevator first. Older men especially seem concerned about this question since they were raised in an era when chivalry was expected and the…

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A Professional Organizer’s Guide to Writing More Thank You Notes

By Arden / September 3, 2018 /

This is a guest post by Denise Allan, Founder of Simplify Experts. I am a big fan of appreciation and thanking someone warmly for a gift or a kind act. I love receiving handwritten thank you notes (I don’t knock email notes either) because it means someone took the time to let me know they…

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The competitive advantage of kindness

By Arden / June 23, 2018 /

I recently spoke at the Washington Society of Association Executives conference. After my presentation on making meetings more effective, I attended a presentation on kindness by Donna Cameron, author of “A Year of Living Kindly.” She shared some impressive statistics about the return on investment kindness has on an organization.

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