Small Business News: National Etiquette Week Means No Excuses!

Don’t you hate it when you’re in a meeting or even in a store and someone feels like they need to carry on an entire and loud conversation right in front of you? Or maybe you’re traveling by plane on a business trip and the 10-year-old behind you decides to use the back of your seat for kickboxing practice.

People who do not display proper etiquette in public situations can just drive you mad. But guess what? It’s National Etiquette Week, May 12-16. Who knew? It’s a week, according to The Etiquette and Leadership Institute (ELI), to recognize courtesy, civility, good manners and kindness as the way young people, leaders, business people and children around the country are called to act.

ELI asked etiquette consultants across the U.S. about their constituents’ hot button issues. They included:

• Rude driving habits
• Children kicking the back of theater or airplane seats
• Loud, rowdy behavior in subways
• Cellular phone usage in restaurants
• Inappropriate dress at business functions
• Poor handshakes

Here are tips to address those hot buttons, offered by ELI:

1. While driving, forget about juggling six things at once; just be gracious to other motorists.
2. Parents should brief socially active children about respectful behaviors. If they can’t be still due to their age, wait a couple of years before taking them to concerts or similar events. Also, make sure they know to keep their feet on the floor, away from others’ seats.
3. If you are uncivilized, discourteous or unpleasant in public, you will be treated in that manner. Treat others as you’d like to be treated.
4. A restaurant is for gracious dining, so keep the cell phones tucked away.
5. A firm web-to-web handshake accompanied by eye contact and a smile is a powerful leadership tool.