Business Etiquette Made Easy: The Essential Guide to Professional Success

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.

Make sure you come prepared to any meeting you are invited to attend. Coming prepared means doing your homework and knowing about the topic being discussed, especially if you anticipate that you will have to answer questions or make a presentation.

Set your own drink limit and stick to it. And don’t forget to eat something.

I recommend showing up within the first twenty minutes of the event’s start time, because the best networking will happen at the beginning of the event before people pair up and group off. Once you arrive, put your cell phone away. You may feel insecure and want to reach for it, but it will instantly make you look unapproachable.

Never tell someone that you “forgot” their name or can’t “remember” their name. It’s a bit insulting. Instead, ask them to “remind” you of their name if you

identify who you want to talk to by scanning the room upon your arrival or checking ahead of time if there is a registration of people who will be attending the event. Take a deep breath and walk up and introduce yourself. Don’t panic about coming up with something clever to say. Instead, simply start with “Hi, I’d like to introduce myself. My name is John Smith, and I work at (company name).”

If you’re nervous about approaching a group or walking up to someone, place yourself at or near the bar.

If there is a group of people and you want to speak with someone in the group, look to see if it’s an open or closed circle.

avoid starting a conversation with “So, what do you do?” It can come across as opportunistic, as if you will only talk to the person if you think you can get something out of the conversation. Start on a friendlier note before inquiring about what the person does for work.

perfect strategy to help you keep the conversation going to ensure that you avoid an awkward silence and an uncomfortable end: The Meier Method W-W-H-C, which stands for What, Why, How, Compliment.