Business Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional Success

I recommend keeping emails as short as possible to keep the recipient’s attention. If you have actionable items or points you want to draw specific attention to, include a few bullets that stand out in the body of the email. Always include next steps in an email if possible.

Q: What are the proper closings to sign off a formal email in business? A: “Best regards,” is the most professional closing

Do I have to keep being formal in my opening greeting if the email has been going back-and-forth multiple times in communication? A: No. After the first couple of emails back-and-forth, a formal greeting may start to come across as unnatural.

Q: How do I address a large team on an email? A: For informal groups or emails you can say “Dear all,”

Mastering nonverbal communication is key for successful conversations and interactions in business.

The secret is when someone is listening to you, watch their eyes and mouth together. What these two parts of the face are doing at the same time tells you how to respond.

Head nods are a great form of nonverbal communication to see from someone you are speaking with. By nodding their head in conversation, the other person is expressing that they are on board with you and agreeing with what you are saying.

Correcting bad etiquette is bad etiquette.

If you have an issue with someone, like a colleague, don’t let it get worse and worse until you are so angry you can’t think straight. Don’t let your frustrations hit the boiling point. Instead, address the issue upfront and politely, and have a suggested solution ready.

Never write, text, or email someone when you are angry. You can draft it, but don’t send it. Wait until things cool down, reread it, and then edit it once you are more levelheaded.

If someone such as a boss, colleague, or client is angry with you and raising their voice, for you to raise your voice back is the worst thing you can do. Instead, keep your cool, remain poised, and answer with a firm yet assertive voice. If the person is too hotheaded to listen at that moment, let them cool off and pick up the conversation when the situation has calmed down.

Swearing. It’s not professional and may show a lack of education.

Here are my top tips to help with public speaking:

Prepare: Practice your presentation so you are not reading from a screen or note cards. The better you know the material, the more confident you will appear when you present it.

Know your audience: Adjust your presentation to be the most engaging for your specific audience

Even for small groups of people in a room, I always make sure to make eye contact with as many people in the room as possible, so they all feel like I’m connecting with them and it becomes more personal.

Turn nerves into excitement! Remember that your audience is sitting and waiting to listen to you because you are knowledgeable on a topic that they are interested in. Have confidence in knowing they are there to see you and hear you and get excited.

you receive consistent notifications, you may find yourself constantly reaching for your phone to check them. Keep your phone out of sight during the day unless you’re expecting an emergency call.

It’s important to show supervisors they can trust you with various projects and tasks, which can only be beneficial to you in growing your career.

If you think you will be late for a meeting, give everyone two minutes notice for every one minute you will be late. For example, when running five minutes late, tell everyone you’re running ten minutes behind so that they aren’t left sitting in a room waiting for you or on a call listening to elevator music.