An ultimate guide to real-world manners by a respected etiquette coach incorporates guidelines that address the unique needs of today's world, including privacy, personal interaction with diverse cultures and using electronic devices during meals.

"You never get a second chance to make a first impression." Have you ever heard this saying? Before we get a chance to say a word, our gestures and manners have already spoken for us. Though some of the rules of good manners change, others remain constant. This book is about the constants: the least you need to know to make a good first impression. As Clarence Thomas once said, "Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot." Use this book as a master key to open those doors.

Meet the personification of todays new etiquette, Mr. Social Grace weekly advice columnist in print, radio and online as he reveals the basics of good manners for everyday urban life. He offers a new interpretation of good manners that can serve as a powerful tool to help twenty-first century people get along better. Presented in answers to real-life quandaries is Social Graces philosophy of etiquette.

The secret to self-confidence is to know and understand the rules of social engagement before you're in the middle of an uncomfortable situation. Do you know how to: Pick the right fork? Shine at a networking event? Write a Thank you Note? Shake hands? RSVP to an invitation? Say no to a request for a favor?Use social media with clarity?Behave at a sporting event? Say the perfect thing at a funeral?Smoke a cigar in public? Etiquette isn't just something you need on formal occasions. It's a blueprint for how to behave every day, in every situation, to make interactions between people smooth and pleasant, with no ruffled feathers, misunderstandings or hurt feelings. It helps you smoothly transition from college to corporate life, and from professional obligations to personal ones. Etiquette doesn't exist to add a layer of extra rules to life—it's there to guide us to treat each other with kindness and consideration in our personal and professional lives.

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