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Cecilia holds an undergraduate degree from Wake Forest University, a masters degree from Duke University. Her etiquette credentials are from the Protocol School of Washington®. She is president of her firm, Etiquette Matters, which is celebrating its 17th year in 2010.

Etiquette Business & Association Talks

Etiquette is a knowledge base and can be learned!

Most requested programs for businesses and associations include:

Business Etiquette: The Polish of Professionalism

It's not always about performance, as vital as that may be. Performance can be taken to the next level by the "soft skills," the "knowing how" to treat people called etiquette. A polished professional has a competitive edge with clients and colleagues. It may be a slight edge, but in today's economy, anything that enhances the total person becomes paramount in gaining and maintaining a career in the business arena. A little bit of polish always helps, and never hurts.

Topics may include, but are not limited to Correct Placement of Name Badges (not only where but why), Proper Handshakes and Correct Introdutions, Remembering Names, Forms of Address and Honorifics (written and oral), Business Protocols vs. Social Etiquette; Communications Etiquette, Telephone Courtesies (office and mobile), Common Faux Pas: Missteps To Avoid, Polished Small Talk vs. Conversation Taboos, R.S.V.P's, Grammar Flags.

A Polished Presence at the Table: Dining Skills for the Professional

There's no need to be stuffy, but professionals today do need an awareness of fine dining protocols. Lively, informative, and straight-forward, this is a content-rich session of dining skills taught from as a visual briefing from a multi-course place setting, and covering the ABC's of Dining; What To Do and What Not To Do; Eating Various Foods, Correct and Incorrect Handling of the Knife and Fork (The Wall Street Journal has called mishandling of the knife and fork as a major "disqualifier" for a prospective employee being intereviewed during a meal) and the highly mis-understood, but all-important Silent Service Code. This module may be taught during a meal, as a dining tutorial, or as a seminar.

Extending a Polished Presence into the Business Arena: Networking, NoteWriting, and Netiquette

Professionals can add polish to their professional presence by adding skills in networking, (Mingling and Maneuvering: A Cocktail Party/Reception Guide (Which hand for the drink? Which hand for the napkin? How does one gracefully disconnect from one (boring) group to somewhere else?), Notewriting (tips and strategies for writing a note that will either be kept or shared--there are tricks of the trade that can be learned in thank you note wriiting) and Netiquette, those pesky rules that remind us that courtesy should not lapse on the www, while texting, or sending email.

Businesses and assocations where Cecilia has presented:

*(an asterisk denotes multiple appearances)