A life-long head start - the gift of good manners.  Business and hiring decisions are often made over lunch or dinner.  Are you comfortable and at ease in such situations, someone to be trusted and respected?  How you relate to other guests, carry on a conversation, handle your silverware, and even treat the wait staff, speaks volumes about you.  Good manners are good business.  Modules are not available for individual students but only for groups.

The International Butler Academy is committed to offering contemporary and universally accepted protocol and etiquette programs in the highest professional manner.

We will work with a company's senior management to learn its needs for protocol and etiquette training and to develop a corporate etiquette plan.  We also work with professional organizations and clubs whose members share a community of interest.  A program is tailored for the organization's needs.  We also conduct follow-up interviews with the organization's management or officials to assess the effectiveness of the training.

Etiquette defined

With this handy reference, you can be sure to understand the basics of etiquette and professional conduct;

• Etiquette:
  The rules of Decorum.  Etiquette is the usual word for the code governing manners and conduct, and for observance of these rules.
• Decorum:
  Decency, propriety, dignity.  All of these are a code of rules respecting what is right, fitting, or honorable.
• Manners:
  A customary way of acting.  Usually polite, distinguished.
• Protocol:
  The rules prescribing the etiquette in ceremonies of state.  The code prescribing reference to rank and strict adherence to due order of preference and correct procedure, as in diplomatic exchange and ceremonies.
• Faux- pas:
  A false step.  A social blunder, whether verbal or by act.  It is pronounced [fo-pah]. Another word for faux pas is gaffe.
• Aggressive:
  Is assertive in a dominating manner.  Usually offensive.
• Assertive:
  Is boldness with self confidence in expressing oneself.  An assertive person is a problem solver.

Manners (common sense consideration for others) can bridge differences of age, sex, background, culture and nationality.  People who can present themselves with confidence and authority instill that confidence in clients, colleagues and others.

Image Consultants

Use the power of your appearance and wardrobe as a business strategy.  Your image speaks volumes about you.  Only you can control what it says.

• Learn the art of camouflage to maximize the best, minimize the rest
• Use your personal presence to accentuate your expertise & credentials
• Learn how colors and formality level communicate your power
• Select appropriate casual business clothes for more credibility
• Systemize a working wardrobe designed to take you everywhere
• Whether you work in a casual or formal atmosphere, your professionalism is projected through your grooming habits, wardrobe planning and attitude.

Studies have shown that more than 60% of what is believed about us is based upon visual messages.

Below is a sample Etiquette & Protocol training curriculum.

This high-content, two-week interactive seminar was custom-designed to the specific needs and interests of a corporate client, with special emphasis on presenting a polished professional image.
 

Business etiquette;

• First impressions - lasting impressions bungalow),
• Presenting a polished professional image
• Dress for success
• First impressions - lasting impressions
• Presenting a polished professional image
• Dress for success
• How to make others feel like a VIPs
• Impress clients
• Listening skills - the real secret of success
• Body language - nonverbal communication
• Effective Correspondence
• Presence and awareness
• How to make proper introductions
• Five star customer service
• Business cards
• Rank and status
• Effective gifts
• Telephone manners
• Present an international image
• Communication skills
• Hand shaking
• The ultimate greeting
• Introducing yourself and others
• Forms of address
• Eye contact
• Remembering names
• Strategic do's and don'ts
• What to do with rudeness
• Total quality in the business area
• Business Travel
• Rehearsal techniques
• and much more...

Dining Skills;

• Extending the invitation
• Accepting the invitation
• Silverware confidence
• Setting the table
• Selecting wines
• Wine tasting
• Guest and Host duties
• Seating the guests
• Guest of honor duties
• Difficult foods
• Tipping
• Body language at the table
• Dealing with accidents
• Multi-Course dining
• Formal vs. Informal dining
• Pitfalls to avoid
• Toasting
• Receiving lines
• Napkins
• and much more...

The Restaurant Meal;

• Choosing the location
• Making the reservation
• Meeting your guest/host
• Seating the guests
• Menu selections
• Drinking before/during the meal
• Conversation topics
• Doing business at the meal
• Leaving the table in the middle of a meal
• Paying the bill
• Follow up after the meal
• and much more...

At many Fortune 500 companies, top management take potential front line employees to lunch or dinner to observe their comfort level with executives, spouses, waiters and even the various pieces of silverware.  Like it or not, management equates good manners with competence in business and poor manners with incompetence.

We also show you how you can use your body language to:

• Establish greater trust and credibility
• Enhance your presentation skills
• Improve your relationship building skills
• "Hold your ground" and win the respect of others
• Indicate your interest without "coming on too strong."

At the conclusion of this seminar, participants will possess a clear understanding of the importance of first impressions - know how to practice proper business etiquette in different situations - and be fully aware of the many advantages gained by applying these skills.  Note that these trainings are only available for groups and not for individual students.