What's N.E.W. with You?

Next week – May 12-16—is National Etiquette Week! Established in 1997, NEW is an annual event that encourages us to examine the state of civility in the U.S. This year, we look at not just civility here, but also the civility we bring with us when we travel elsewhere…

Because this year’s theme is Be a Citizen Diplomat. 

It’s all about the impact that courtesy, kindness, and good manners have when traveling outside of the U.S. and while interacting with guests visiting our country. (Great timing- May is also Global Civility Awareness Month!)

Check here every day next week, starting Monday, for a new topic that will help you be a fantastic citizen diplomat! In the meantime, we leave you with the following quotes to keep you inspired!

“The work of the citizen diplomacy community is not just a nice thing to do; its repercussions have far-reaching implications. Future global prosperity, peace, and stability are dependent upon increased international cooperation, collaboration, and mutual understanding.”—Jennifer Clinton, President, GlobalTies U.S.

“Civility – though you may live in a different world ideologically, you live in the same world physically.  Play nice.”—ChooseCivility

“I have long believed, as have many before me, that peaceful relations between nations requires understanding and mutual respect between individuals. If only people will get together, then so eventually will nations.”—President Dwight D. Eisenhower

“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.”—Henry J. Kaiser

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”—Plato

“Average Americans, in their natural state, are the best ambassadors a country can have.”—Eugene Burdick & William Lederer, authors of The Ugly American

  

“America’s greatest asset is our citizens. While governmental interventions and assistance are crucial, they leave a lot of room for purposeful citizen diplomats to generate sustainable achievements that result from partnerships built on merit, trust, and mutual interests.”—Benjamin Orbach, Founder & Director, America’sUnofficial Ambassadors

“Be real.  Try to do what you say, say what you mean, and be what you seem.”—Marion Wright Edelman

Prom time!

Back in the day

Clothes, check. Hair, check. Corsage, check. (Maybe one made of chicken? Hmm, maybe not.) 

It's time for prom night! Young men and women: you've no doubt gotten a million ducks in a row before this evening, figuring out the logistics of dinner and driving and photos and parties and more. So now it's time to take a breath and focus on something that's just as important: manners.

Because how you behave determines whether your prom date will ever want to see you again!

Don't worry if you can't tell your dinner and dessert forks apart or don't know how to shake hands. If you've never had an etiquette lesson in your life, you can remember one thing: be kind, and the rest will surely follow. We use good manners because we want to be kind to others. Simple, really.

That said, we have some helpful hints for you!

Before you get dressed, make sure you are really ready! Check out these grooming tips for guys and 5 Ways to Impress your Date.

Be on time. If you're picking up your date, allow enough time to meet the parents and take photos. (If meeting parents gives you anxiety, don't worry—just remember to smile and shake hands.) If you're waiting for your date, be ready to go!

Enjoy your meal. For a formal meal, take a look at our handy utensil chart and tips. For a more casual meal, check out our advice on dining with finger foods!

Silence your phone. Taking photos with it is fine, but as a rule, pay attention to your date and friends instead of lengthy phone calls or texts. 

Before you go, thank the host committee, as well as school teachers and administrators who are present. They worked hard for this night!

Spring Formal Success!

What a fantastic Perfectly Polished Spring Formal!

Our Lead Dancers opened the night with a line dance—a very bright and neon one! (It ended with a bit of a bang.)

We had a record number of Perfectly Polished graduates return as floor leaders, who have the job of helping all students find their dance partners. It was great to see not only our most experienced dancers again—but also some of our youngest, who had the supreme confidence to make something up and keep going with a smile if they forgot a step!

Thanks to all 600 students and 3,000 folks in the audience who made it a success. Let's do it again next year! (More photos from our professional photographer, Duane Stork Photography, are here.)

Almost Spring Formal Time!

We're just a week away!

We are all working so hard for this year's Perfectly Polished Spring Formal, held at UGA's Stegeman Coliseum. We need a big space for it—600 students will be dancing, and we expect our usual number of around 3,000 guests in the audience. 

Our students have been perfecting numerous dances—the shag, waltz, fox trot, cha-cha, and so much more.  In all, we'll 23 different dances, including special numbers from Perfectly Polished staff, and some very special moments in which our students dance with their parents and siblings.

Our first Spring Formal was held in 1990 with 98 students. It's wonderful to see how we've grown, reflect on all those memories, and still have fun anticipating the dance each year. 

We can't wait!

Check your email style

Last week we heard the following: "Every email is a pitch!" 

That made us think about how important a single email can be—it could launch a career or a friendship, be your first introduction, or deliver important news. We spend a lot of time at Perfectly Polished emphasizing the importance of in-person introductions, handshakes, and good communication on the phone. Yet it's so easy to send an email with barely a thought.

So, before you press "send"...check your email style! Whether you're a stream-of-conscious writer or concise with your words, you can tailor your style so you're always putting your best foot—and email—forward. Let's take it top to bottom!

First of all...YOUR ADDRESS

If you're over the age of 13, have a straightforward email address, and use your real name! This immediately sets the tone of your correspondence, and you want to be taken seriously.

THE SUBJECT LINE

Always fill this in, and make it clear and appropriate so it can easily be searched. You want your reader to know immediately what you need to discuss. Life has enough mysteries...email should not be one of them.

THE GREETING

Don't forget this part! Think of your email like a phone conversation. If you are emailing someone for the first time, a short greeting is fine, while those you know better might get a a longer greeting. Something simple like "I hope this finds you doing well" is fine!

THE BODY 

Embrace brevity, especially for professional communication! Be concise and to-the-point. Remember that email is read on a variety of devices and screens, so keep information clear and thorough. (Personal emails could be lengthier, of course.)

THE SIGNATURE

For work emails, this is not just your name—it's also all your up-to-date contact information, as well as any appropriate website links. If you create an automatic signature, be sure that all the information is correct! And of course, be sure to keep everything looking professional and intelligent.

Dessert & Dancing

Georgia's recent ice storms meant that Perfectly Polished had to delay our Valentine Dessert and Dancing event until recently—but for the 75 high school students attending, it was definitely worth the wait!

For nearly 20 years, we've held this party as the last hurrah before our big Spring Formal. And we live up to the Dessert and Dancing name! The evening features three courses of desserts...

...dancing...

...and signing dance cards in advance of the Spring Formal. 

It's a great opportunity to use all of the table manners they've learned over the years with Perfectly Polished, and we see it in action: gentlemen standing when ladies come to the table; entering the chair from the right; placing silverware in the "I am resting" and "I am finished" positions...our students always look forward to it, and so do we!

Great Moments in Olympic Sportsmanship

The 2014 Winter Olympics are nearly upon us!

As the world's top athletes gather and recite the Olympic Oath, perhaps we can draw inspiration from their words:

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, committing ourselves to a sport without doping and without drugs, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honor of our teams." 

As we mull over those words, "in the true spirit of sportsmanship," let's also think about the Olympic motto, Citius, Altius, Fortius—Latin for "Faster, Higher, Stronger." The founder of the International Olympic Committee, Pierre de Coubertin, had another well-known motto for the Olympic athletes: "The most important thing is not to win but to take part!" (He borrowed the phrase from a bishop's sermon given at the 1908 Olympics.)

It's a great time to remind ourselves of the importance of good sportsmanship, even if it's on the neighborhood cul-de-sac, the Little League field, or a community team (for kids OR adults!). If you need some inspiration, check out these Top 10 Moments of Olympic Sportsmanship, the BBC's collection of inspiring personal stories, and a great story about a festival in Punjab, India that offers the community an Olympics-inspired event.