Want to be queen of your career? Etiquette training may help
Etiquette training was part of ‘our’ Queen Mary’s journey to the Danish throne. Here is how deportment skills can help you achieve success in life – and your career.
Ok, so not everyone who completes a deportment course will go on to become a princess, but according to Starmakers’ founder Teresa Page, etiquette training can help develop a range of skills to help you succeed in whatever your chosen path is.
Teresa, who helped the then Mary Donaldson develop self-confidence and poise shortly after meeting the then Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, teaches performance skills, modelling and on-screen training.
“It was five weeks after she met Frederik that Mary attended an introductory presentation,” Teresa says.
The self-development course Queen Mary enrolled in aims to build confidence and personal branding.
Who can benefit from etiquette training?
It’s not just would-be princesses who enrol in etiquette training.
Teresa says business leaders, corporate executives, actors and media personalities commonly seek out her expertise to learn skills to further their career.
Deportment courses typically cover performance and presentation skills similar to what is taught in the entertainment industry but can also advance the careers of people in the corporate world.
“They are the same skills applied to different environments,” Teresa says, adding that she often has creative artists, musicians and actors enrolled in her courses.
“It (the training) is absolutely brilliant for creatives to get structure,” she says.
What is involved in etiquette training?
Teresa defines deportment and etiquette as different forms of behaviour, and says understanding people’s boundaries is a key part of good etiquette.
“Deportment is your behaviour towards others and etiquette is your behaviour for consideration of others,” she explains.
Deportment classes focus on clients’ posture, presence, dining etiquette, and business protocol.
Teresa says another important element of training is recognising tone of voice.
She has her clients reading scripts in different tones to show the impact tone has on what they’re saying and how it’s perceived.
Teresa’s programs encourage people to combine their life skills, experience, knowledge, qualifications and talents to create a personal brand and find the career they best align with.
“If you define very clearly your personal brand, you not only have a very specific direction for where you want to go, but also where you don’t want to go,” she says.
Teresa says the most common challenges faced by her clients are a lack of confidence because they are disassociated from their personal value brand in the marketplace of relationships, business and social life.
“You need to know what is uniquely valuable about what you have to offer to the world,” she says.
How to carry yourself like a queen
Teresa says there are some common etiquette behaviours we can learn from royalty that can help us succeed in our own lives, including the following:
- Always say please and thank you.
- Always be very polite – something which Teresa says royals do well by asking questions. “They often ask people a question to show interest and engage the person,” she says.
- Refrain from using bad language.
- Be mindful of tone to ensure words are perceived correctly.
- Never groom yourself in public.
More on personal development:
- How to unlock what motivates you and reach your potential
- 40-plus and ready for a career change? Here’s how to make the switch
- How to exude confidence in an interview – and get the job
- Support crew: The 7 people you need to succeed
Written by Tia Clarkson-Pascoe.
