“The American School of Protocol® sets itself apart from other schools in one major way, it gives you the opportunity to student teach. For me, this was the determining factor in my decision to attend. Having the opportunity to work ‘hands on’ with local children was invaluable. It truly brings the material to life, while allowing you to envision your own classes once you get home.”
Ashley, Newport Beach, California
“Day one was filled with anticipation and excitement as everyone gathered for the July, 2011 The American School Of Protocol’s ® Train The Trainer Certification Program. The group quickly bonded with President, Peggy Newfield and staff, as well as the children. We learned how to begin teaching our first class, the rules of introduction and then moved to the dining table where we began preparing for the children to arrive. It was amazing to see the progress of the children and all of the trainees in our class, in just one day. I am so excited to be here.”
Cameron, Biloxi, Mississippi
It is always encouraged to write down a few questions to pose to a potential employer. What you ask (and sometimes when) can speak volumes about your interest and work ethic. Beth Braccio Hering, a writer for CareerBuilder.com, recently wrote an article highlighting the seven worst questions to ask an interviewer.
1. What does your company do?
Do your homework. Gather information on the company’s history. Do not waste the interviewer’s time by having him/her recite what could have been learned beforehand on the company’s website.
2. How much does the position pay?
It may be the answer you are dying to know, but seeking this information too soon can make you look like you are jumping the gun. A better approach is to do some research ahead of time to get a feel for what similar jobs are paying.
3. What are the hours of this position?
Asking this question may make an employer wonder how committed you are to the job. No one wants to hire a “clock watcher”.
4. How many sick days do I get?
Keep a potential employer from questioning your motivation (or your health) by looking this up in the employee handbook later.
5. How much time do I get off?
Like numbers three and four, this question can make a potential employer wonder if a candidate is more interested in getting out of work than contributing.
6. If I am hired, when can I begin applying for other roles within the company?
While ultimately you might have higher aspirations than the position for which you are applying, remember that an employer is looking for the best person to fill an opening for what the company needs now, not in the future.
7. Do you do background checks?
If you do not have something to hide, you probably are not going to bother asking this one. If you do…
Be informed. Select questions that show you know some specifics about the company and position you are seeking.
July 19, 2011
Dear Peggy,
I am excited to share with you all the great things that are going on with me in the past thirty days since training! Once I returned home, I took comprehensive look at my website, resources and the business plan in my head. Since I have only lived in Charlotte for a year and a half now…without any real connections, I knew I would have to rely on my marketing background and think entirely outside the box.
I found what is called a “Virtual Office” in the ritzy part of town! For only $100.00 a month I could use one of the offices twice a month and have access to rent two conference rooms or the huge corporate board room for only $29.00 an hour. The office and conferences rooms are all located on the 4th floor and have a great city views! It also comes with two professional admin assistance that sit in the front lobby greeting people. I requested to have my company’s name listed in the lobby directory. Most importantly I have a prestige address and two locations to hold training classes in.
I then decided to join two of the local chambers. Please don’t kill me! The county offers small businesses the opportunity to join two chambers for the price of one. $400 is my cost out of pocket. Since I have won several awards including Ambassador of the Year with previous chamber involvement, it was a natural progression for me! My Ribbon Cutting Celebration is scheduled for July 28th. The management team from my new office is allowing me to host the event in the lobby! We already have over 50 RSVP’s!
I took your advice and hired a few high school students to assist me with my lessons and training classes. I thought it would be a good idea to have more than one, so that if one was not available…another would be. I put an ad on Craig’s List. The response for the program was phenomenal! I put the students through an unpaid three day etiquette boot camp in my home. I invited their parents and asked my next door neighbor ( a high school teacher and pastor at a local church with three locations and over 4,000 members) to come over with his wife to assist me with the grading process and listen to the 1 minutes speeches about what they had learned over the past 3 days. Wow! They were thoroughly impressed!
Upon the successful completion of the final test they would become a High School Etiquette Intern. I offered to pay them minimum wage and provide them access to my entire etiquette program for free as long as they work at least once a month. I even threw in a 25% discount for their family members and friends! I started with thirteen students and ended up with seven graduates. Three of them will work only through the summer and the other four will work year round. One of them has already extended the Family & Friends Discount to their mother, who then sent me a text message asking if she could extend it to a co-worker. Of course I said “Absolutely!”
On their first day of work, we had what I called an “Admin Day”! We created a Face Book Fan page and Twitter account so I can use the idea you gave us about the etiquette tip of the day! I then asked them to invite their parents and friends to join our pages. One of the interns decided to take a peek at her mother’s friends list and twitter following. She had over seven thousand people between the two sites! Needless to say, her mother and I are friends now!
An excel database was created from the 149 business cards I had collected over the past three months attending different events. I also had them to go through local children’s magazines and add every advertiser to the data base as well… round the total contacts to 205. Peggy, the interns completed all the assigned tasks in four hours yesterday! The only thing I could do was stand there drinking coffee as I looked over their shoulders.
On July, 5th I received a call from a lady looking to hire an Etiquette Consultant for a group dinner on July 16th. She explained that she had found my ad posted online with The Charlotte Observer Newspaper. I continued to obtain more details on the dinner and “low and behold” she was with Muzack (one of the largest on hold and satellite music company in the U.S.)! They were hosting a Dining Etiquette Class for 24 people at Winthrop University in Rock Hill South Carolina. Each year they hold a summer camp in a major city for sixteen elite high school musicians from all over the United States. This year they decided to host it near Charlotte. The camp exposes them to the entertainment industry. I felt honored that they had found my company, The Academy of Etiquette & Charm and wanted me to instruct the etiquette portion of the camp. Who knew that my first big client would hire me to conduct training in another state! I am certain that my casual comment of “I am a graduate of The American School of Protocol” help seal the deal!
On July 12th, I finally had my long awaited meeting with Charlotte Mecklenburg Communities in Schools Director. In April I offered them four free scholarships to my etiquette program to help gain some exposure for my company. You would think… Free would get you an automatic YES, it does not. I was required to present my program on three different occasions and this was the final meeting. I usually carry my designer laptop bag and my purse. Since I had to park down town and walk a good distance to the building I decided to pack up all of my things in the red and black tote bag you gave us for training. It was large enough to fit everything in it.
As the director and I sat at the table next to each other… discussing the proposal I had careful prepared, I could feel her inspecting my every move and listening closely to my every word. She then decided that we would go down the hall to speak to another staff member. As I reached over and placed my bag on the table, I noticed her looking at the logo on it. As she introduced me to the other lady, she mentioned that I was a graduate of The American School of Protocol. That lady too looked at the bag! Needless to say, they have accepted my scholarships and plan to promote my program in 13 High Schools in Charlotte. They have also asked me to be a Judge for a Public Speaking Contest and to be a Professional Speaker at three workshops this school year. Wow! With all my charm and pizzazz it was my red and black training bag that officially tilted the scales from being viewed as an entrepreneur to being viewed as a serious… educational business woman wanting to help young adults strive for excellence.
Last night, I received a call from a Grandmother inquiring about an ad she had seen in the Sunday newspaper for a Teen Dining Etiquette Workshop I was hosting. She wanted to reserve a spot for her granddaughter and her best friend. When I got off the telephone with her, the only thing I could do was… smile and say, Thank You Jesus!
At no time have I purchased an online ad or bought a very expensive spot in the Sunday Newspaper. I have only taken advantage of FREE marketing outlets we have in Charlotte. So, I decided to do a little research to see if they were really finding me in the Observer. And sure enough, The Academy of Etiquette & Charm was listed on the front page of Charlotte Events for Teens! Wow!
How or why The Charlotte Observer has decided to publish my company’s information is a mystery. What I do know, is that when you align yourself with professional positive energy… it grows into something very successful! I am so happy I invested my time and money with The American School of Protocol. It is exactly what my company needed to give it a solid foundation!
Sincerely,
Lashaune Tisdale
P.S. Muzack was so impressed with me and my two high school assistants, they invited all eight of us to attend a private concert reserved for their large clients and sponsors! We are all caravanning there tonight!
During our children’s etiquette certification classes, we stress to our participants the need to create innovative and fun table scape designs when teaching dining lessons. Children’s attention spans are short, so the more colorful and interesting you can dress your table, the better. Here are a few suggestions:
Choose a Theme: look around your home for interesting items (sea shells, souvenirs from your travels, etc.) and use those items to design a daily theme. In Peggy’s travels abroad, she has collected several items to keep the child’s interest on the table. One example is a collection of hand painted clowns from Mexico combined with porcelain containers from the United Kingdom. These items stir conversation at the table and can provide several teachable moments with the children.
Use FRESH as much as possible: Fresh flowers bring life to a table so much more than artificial. You can easily arrange a beautiful table by selecting fresh greenery and flowers from your garden. Using wholesale markets such as Costco or Sam’s Club will bring costs down if you plan to buy your flowers. We recommend flowers that will last well for a week, such as carnations, chrysanthemums, alstroemeria , and statice. You can mix/match your arrangements each day to give a new look to each table setting.
Bright and Bold colors work best to catch a child’s attention. Colorful ribbon is a cheap and easy way to bring movement and life to your table scape.
Remember to have fun when creating your place settings! Parents will be so appreciative of the effort you put forth in making their child feel special!
We believe that the most effective way to understand any curriculum is to put it into practice! The American School of Protocol is the only etiquette certification company that brings in children as a teaching tool for our participants.
Each session, 12 children ranging from six years of age to 13 enroll for a week of etiquette lessons. The children learn a range of skills during the week – making introductions, shaking hands, dining both continental and zig zag methods, and telephone and safety skills.
The children are greeted each day with a beautiful new table scape of fresh flowers and items from around the world to captivate their imagination and interest. Our etiquette instructors-in-training are each paired with a child so that they may be able to give “hands-on” instruction.
Ever wonder why major companies and corporations are now placing the slogan “Follow us on Facebook” to their advertisements? Facebook is not just a teenage social trend – it is an effective and powerful marketing tool for any business, big or small.
The American School of Protocol provides a training session during the Children and Corporate Etiquette Certification classes to help participants understand the advantages of creating a Facebook business page and how to set one up in five easy steps.
What are the advantages of a Facebook Business Page?
Increase your online search capabilities - Google LOVES a busy Facebook page! Google search engines use Facebook Business page insights to account for 52% of the data collected to rank a business website. Therefore, by having a Facebook page, you can reach a wider audience on page one of Google search engines.
Get out there, get connected and utilize free advertising with a Facebook Page!
Follow us on Facebook for both our Personal Best, Inc. Corporate Etiquette Training and The American School of Protocol.
“One of our classes during our certification was with our speech coach, Toria Tolley from CNN. Toria gave us so much information on how to omit filler words which, I admit, I really did not know I was using. We also received great tips on verbal and non-verbal communication. I will always remember Toria’s quote, ‘It is not the message, It’s the messenger.’”
~ Debby Tapia, June 2011 Children’s Certification Graduate
“The American School of Protocol® was exactly what we expected. An extensive curriculum was presented in a logical, organized manner. However, I was not certain as to what type of person and instructor owner and founder, Peggy Newfield, would be. From my limited interaction with her, I expected a very prim and proper impersonal individual. To my surprise and delight, she was quite different. She is a friendly, kind, caring, warm, witty, savvy businesswoman. My field is accouting and I consider myself a “knowledge snob” that will only listen to someone who knows their subject area. Ms. Newfield is not just someone who knows her subject area, she is an “expert”.”
~ Anjali Arnold, June 2011 Children’s Etiquette Certification Graduate
“Thank you, American School of Protocol, for being all I was looking for and much, much more. Our hotel, meals, and instructors were superior. Having been in the military for 29 years, I was not sure the classes would be fast paced enough for me. Well, they were! I recommend this company to anyone looking for serious knowledge in etiquette and protocol. Thank you, Peggy, for sharing your wisdom with such passion and strength.”
~ Angela Tyree, June 2011 Children’s Etiquette Certification Graduate
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