11 Forgotten Etiquette Tips That We Should Bring Back Into Fashion
Let’s bring back the lost art of etiquette with these 11 tricks.
Sometimes it can seem like the world is falling apart around us. Awash in the constant influx of information on current events, wars, and polarizing issues, it can feel like there is little holding us together these days. While we can’t all end world hunger or initiate world peace, there are some things that we have collectively been letting slide into chaos that we do have more control over. One of those things is etiquette. Although it may seem like a minor issue, attending to our manners can have huge personal, societal, and cultural implications.
When you hear the word etiquette, you might picture stuffy old ladies having tea on a table littered with doilies, or you might picture your grade school peers whose parents sent them to cotillion classes during summer vacation to learn how to hold their forks and spoons properly. The art of manners and etiquette goes far beyond these images, though. At its heart, it’s about making sure people feel comfortable, loved, and able to connect socially with others. Before we even begin to mourn the loss of knowledge of which glass goes where at the dinner table, let’s try to rejuvenate the art of making sure our friends, guests, and loved ones feel cared for, seen, and listened to. By rekindling this lost art, we may find that the world feels a little more stable and our hearts a little more connected to one another. Here are a few ways you can start today.
Greet Others with a Confident Handshake
The way you shake hands can not only set the tone for your first interaction with someone, but it can leave them with a specific impression of who you are as a person from that moment on. Whether we’re aware of this on a conscious level or not, our initial physical contact – both with our eyes and with our hands – as we greet someone for the first time tells them a lot about us. Here are a few things to keep in mind to make sure that you come across as both friendly and confident to everyone you meet:
Reach your right hand forward with your thumb toward the ceiling and and your palm open.
Make eye contact and give the other person a warm, genuine smile.
Once your hands are clasped web-to-web, match their grip, being careful to hold their hand firmly but not too tightly.
From your elbow, shake their hand twice.
Use this moment to say something like, “It’s so nice to meet you,” “It’s a pleasure to see you again,” or to use their name in a sentence so that you’ll be more likely to remember it later, if you’re meeting them for the first time.