MANNERS AND OTHER MATTERS

Some of the contestants and the author at Crown Perth, Western Australia...wearing beautiful  Linney's Pearls It was a wonderful surprise to recently have my company, The Percy Institute of International Protocol , invited to enter a partnership with The 2015 Miss World Australia  pageant which is being held in Perth, Western Australia in August this year.  My role is to coach and mentor the contestants  on the various aspects of modern manners which will enable them to enhance the experience of representing not only their State but also perhaps their country. In my coaching role... A few weeks ago I first met the young ladies who come from a diverse range of backgrounds. They were looking forward to enjoying the experience and personal development which entry in the pageant promised, some of them more confidently than others. I spoke with them about grooming and personal presentation, deportment, modern manners, and dining etiquette...

Teenagers in the early 1970s...(Google Images) I am going to celebrate a milestone birthday later this year and unfortunately it doesn't commence with the number "5"!  The year is going to be filled with adventure.  I am returning to France for a month to immerse myself again in a course at the Institut de Français in Villefranche-sur-Mer; I will be visiting my beautiful grandson on the other side of my continent;  and hopefully visiting Far North Queensland with my partner as well.  And in between, indulging myself with the contracts I will choose and enjoy with  The Percy Institute of International Protocol. Recently I have been trying to place myself in this "age" in which I find myself;  perhaps the easiest way to do this is to revert to remembering the people my parents and their friends were in their 60's? In the early 1970's I was still at high school, looking very similar to the girls in the photo above...somewhat awkward.  I al...

The training room prepared for private clients (photo LP) Over the past few weeks I have trained two teenagers through my program Modern Manners for Today .  They are both highly intelligent young adults but in both cases their mothers felt that their social skills could use assistance, not only to encourage greater participation in the social life around them, but to help them in gaining confidence. The first client, aged 16, has been accepted to attend Magdalen College in Oxford this year.  She is extremely bright but socially very young for her age.  She is very pleasant but with virtually no social skills and a tendancy to say whatever comes to mind at the time.  She has few friends and spends a great deal of her time in chat forums on the internet with like minded people. A formal western table setting (photo LP) Perhaps the most surprising aspect of our day together was at the dining table.  Included in my program is a three course...

Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Casino I started my recent sojourn in South East Asia in Singapore with my companion from Switzerland.  A few years ago I had a full time office of The Percy Institute of International Protocol based there. The Singapore of the early 21st century was a very different place to the vibrant hub that it is today. While it was “busy” Singapore was also subdued. There were regular “Good Manners Weeks ”... in all fairness, it was fairly dull. The Percy Institute Singapore staff Today the “vibe” is different. The most marked change for me was in the superb customer service which was on full display not only in the shops but also at the Ritz Carlton Millenia Singapore hotel.   Previously I had instructed on corporate and front of house manners for the Raffles Hotel group and their standards were, and remain, high. So it was really enjoyable to have great service at another hotel group. Not only was our room upgraded to a Marina Bay view withou...