May is party season – graduations and weddings are important moments in peoples’ lives, and we often find ourselves thrown together with strangers or relatives with whom we’re not close, and we need to have a pleasant conversation. You may think people are born charming – and while some are – being charming is a social skill anyone can develop. Here, as taken from our book, Treating People Well, are a few tips on how to connect with others in […]
More and more of our interactions take place online. Without the ability to read another person’s facial expressions and body language it’s easy to misinterpret a message. Here are a few tips from Treating People Well to keep your emails precise and pleasant. Avoid Sarcasm – Sarcasm is difficult to recognize without hearing the speaker’s tone of voice or seeing the smile and accompanying eye roll. Save emojis and over-punctuation for personal emails, and remember that messages in all capitals […]
The word ‘etiquette’ in French means ‘label,’ which is appropriate because nothing labels us like our personal behavior. Every time a new app or social media platform becomes available to the general public – technology that make our lives easier and more productive – we need to develop practical rules for how to use these tools in a way that serves, but doesn’t control, us. Here are some guidelines regarding cellphones from Treating People Well: If you’d like to read […]
Many years ago, while out shopping with my four-year-old daughter, I ran into an elderly friend and stopped to chat. There was a large fake rubber tree that was part of a clothing display nearby, which Liddy started to climb. I tried to catch her eye to make her stop, and kept throwing her dirty looks as I tried to keep the conversation going with my friend. Liddy looked up at me and said loudly, “Why are you looking at […]
I’m SORRY IF is no way to begin an apology. It’s a variation on a theme that we often see with celebrities and politicians: “I’m sorry if what I said hurt some people.” is not an apology, but a refusal of blame for another’s hurt by suggesting that their feelings aren’t valid. When I worked at the White House we learned the value of a sincere – and quick – apology. Anything less would have reflected poorly on the president […]
