You might think it’s nerdy, but I do like reading about the rules of etiquette now and again. 

In this 2-minute video, British etiquette expert William Hanson talks about the different sizes of napkins and where to place them if you have to leave the table or after you’ve finished eating. 

My napkins look quite different to the ones William shows us. Mine are made of linen. And what is best of all, they don’t need to be ironed. I wonder if William would accept that? Most probably not.

And what about you? Do you use napkins? And if so, what are yours made of?

How often do we say that we ‘have to‘ do something?

We have to finish writing a text. We have to send an email to a client. We have to phone a colleague. 

Changing one word in each sentence can help us feel more relaxed.

So instead of saying “we have to“, we can say “we choose to“. 

We choose to finish writing a text. We choose to send an email to a client. We choose to phone a colleague. 

Isn’t it always a choice? Don’t we choose to do the things we do?

So instead of saying: “I have to finish working on the concept instead of taking a lunch break“, try saying: “I decided to finish working on the concept instead of taking a lunch break“. 

Now how does that feel to you?

Biannual means twice in one year. Biennial means once every two years.

So a meeting that happens twice a year is a biannual meeting. A competition that takes place every two years is a biennial competition.

As the terms are often confused, I suggest you use: ‘every 6 months‘ and ‘every two years‘ —if they fit.

So instead of talking about biannual and biennial meetings, say:

There will be a review meeting every six months.
The IESC meeting is held every two years.

I find that so much easier to understand, don’t you?

“If I do a job in 30 minutes it’s because I spent 10 years learning how to do that in 30 minutes. You owe me for the years, not the minutes.”
Davy Greenberg

This quotation went viral some years ago.

Our clients are paying for our experience and our skills. That can be specialist knowledge, expertise in our clients’ niche, hard-to-find skills and so much more.

I just wanted to remind you!