Thank You Note from Crystal

Today, I was pleasantly surprised to have received a thank you note from my client, Crystal Tan. As an image and etiquette consultant, I have coached many, but I really feel most appreciated, when I read a “thank you” note from one of my clients. It really makes me happy to know that my client is doing well, and my advice has helped them achieve their goal.

Crystal Tan came for my one-on-one consultation on business Etiquette on 21April . I remembered that day, when Crystal arrived. She didn’t look very confident and looked rather sad. When I conduct a one-on-one consultation, I like to know more about my client then see how I can help them, because each person is in a different situation with different expectations. After chatting with her for an hour or so, I realised that there are many factors that contributed to her behaviour. One very important factor was that Crystal seemed very emotional while sharing her problems and weaknesses to me.

As an etiquette consultant, I do not only help my clients on business etiquette related topics; I also help to build my client's confidence. Sometimes, my clients have called me a counsellor or a friend, because I actually listened to them and they took comfort in that. I feel that my job has been done, when one of my clients leave my office feeling better and more confident about themselves.

The Importance of Etiquette in Children

One of the most daunting yet important tasks of raising children in today’s society is instilling good social values and etiquette in them. Good manners and behavior play a paramount role in a child’s life.  In fact, the well being of a society ultimately depends on the values and etiquette of our children. 

Parents need to realize that the ultimate responsibility and need to nurture and groom their children into becoming well-mannered individual begin at a very young age. The very first role model of a child is a parent figure at home. To encourage good etiquette and habits, parents need to lead by example and always display good etiquette at all times. Teaching the kids some basic rules about good behavior such as table manners, politeness and kindness are a lifetime investment that will definitely pay off as your children grow older. 

Starting your children on the path to good values early in life can not only help them get along with others better, but also help them develop respect for different cultures and races. It is important that children learn how to interact with different people in their social circle and react appropriately to people from different parts of the world. Proper etiquette habits also help them to move with confidence in society and carry the right values in their personal and professional lives. 

A great etiquette workshop will encourage good habits in dining etiquette, social and communication skills, as well as build confidence and self-esteem among children. Groom your children to be good leaders and respectful individuals in our society to help them excel in our challenging environment.

About Image Flair Children’s Academy

Image Flair Children’s Academy of Modern Etiquette is dedicated to nurturing our youth into established, respectful, and well-groomed individuals of our society. Eunice Tan, founder and consultant of Image Flair, is an internationally recognized image and etiquette consultant that has made a difference in the lives of hundreds of children, as well as their parents. 

Contact Eunice for a personal and confidential consultation on how Image Flair can help your children.

Here Comes The Bride

Looking and feeling great are just the tip of the iceberg when
it comes to wedding preparation.

Weddings are joyous occasions that celebrate a union between loving couples, and a time to share all these wonderful moments with family and friends. Despite the joy and excitement, weddings are a stressful time. From dress selection to dinner, everything demands the utmost attention to detail. 

Without turning your wedding into a hair-pulling frenzy, you can transform this special even into the best party and celebration of your life by incorporating some simple tips and tricks. As an image consultant, it is perplexing as to why couples can spend hundreds of dollars on wedding arrangements and gifts, but fail to give any consideration to what matters the most, the bride and groom. 

Perhaps, it is the lack of awareness and priority given to the most important couple of the wedding, or maybe the stress from preparations and living up to expectations have overshadowed the importance of looking and behaving your best at your wedding. Remember, that when all eyes are on you, proper image and etiquette for weddings is important in holding up a good image and presenting yourself as best as you can. This will not only add to your happiness on your special day but also leave a lasting impression on guests.

Colour analysis for brides is one of the services offered under the Wedding & Special Occasions workshop. It provides professional advice on choosing colors that are best suited to your skin tone. We don’t need an expert to tell us that color coordination is important but we do need help from someone who has sufficient experience and skill to select the right colors for your evening gown, your lip and eye makeup selection, and even the bouquet you’ll be holding the entire evening!

Apart from providing color analysis for brides, the Wedding & Special Occasions workshop proves to be quite helpful in determining the precise style for men and women that not only complements their body but also enhances their personality. While you can afford to look less than perfect on a normal day, your wedding isn’t one of those occasions you want to pass! 

Similarly, jewellery and makeup are two essential aspects of looking great for your big day. It’s your wedding and quite rightly you’re the center of attention, being scrutinized by everyone present at the event. You cannot simply go with your instinct as to what looks better. Questions like, what would go better with your dress, diamonds or pearls or what shade of eye-shadow would bring out the eyes, are all important ones that need to be addressed. 

Apart from appearance, dressing, and looking great, there are other important areas to take note of for your wedding. Acting appropriately in front of guests is important to ensuring that you do not embarrass yourself or give your guests an awkward experience. Appropriate wedding behavior is important to keeping up with that great image you just created for yourself.

Prior to the wedding, invitations, introductions, seating, acknowledging your guests are all part of bride and groom etiquette. Here are a few wedding arrangement tips that you should keep in mind:

• Send out invitations well before time (no Facebook invitations should not be condoned)
• Provide all possible convenience to your guest especially accommodation and food
• Avoid bad timing

Lastly, of course, have a great time and enjoy the beginning to a wonderful journey together as man and wife!

Create Better First Impressions

Creating first impressions is key to attaining success in your professional and personal life. However, many are puzzled by how or what is takes to create a long-lasting, great first impression. In this article, we provide a few useful tips that can be incorporated in our daily lives to enhance your personality and set you up for the next occasion you will need to impress.

First of all, physical appearance needs to be given the highest priority. Proper clothes and a pleasant outlook will help create a positive impression even before you utter a single word. Like it or not, how you look is increasingly important to how other people perceive you. All you are required to do is adorn some clean clothes and appear well-groomed. Of course, depending on the formality setting, you would need to dress appropriately and wear only clothes that fit you. 

In this regard, you can take help from professional personal consultation services that provide expert wardrobe analysis, colour and style analysis, and even personal grooming. Most often, it is considered that such services are a waste of time and money. However, such workshops provide resourceful tips regarding image and etiquette, and help enhance and revitalize a person’s appearance for a better image and outlook. All these play vital roles in creating the first impression that you want to have whether it is during an interview, a first date, or even a high school reunion!

Creating that first impression is just the beginning. Often, what follows during a personal introduction tends to tarnish that great first impression you have created, either because you could not hold a good conversation or the voice did not match the image. Another way how image and etiquette training can help you create long-lasting, better first impressions is by instilling the ability to make good introductions and hold conversations. 

The right introduction requires articulating important personal information like your name and what you do in the right voice, tone, and volume. While this seems simple to many of us, you would be surprised at how many people find self-introductions a challenge. Continuing a conversation after seems like an even more daunting task. The aim is to engage the other person, and this is only possible through effective talking and listening skills. In this regard, you need to try and keep a balance between opening up too much and in other cases, not giving an adequate response. Begin conversation by making the other person feel comfortable and then go with the flow. In most cases, we tend to give less importance to ‘listening’. It is in fact, a very important aspect of making a well-balanced conversation. 

Confidence building is also indispensable to creating better first impressions. Some people are inherently self-assured, while others need a little help. On a personal level, you can work by getting rid of self-consciousness. Sometimes, people tend to focus too much on themselves, where they tend to worry about what the other person thinks about them. This leads to low self-esteem, which outwardly represents itself in form of fidgeting, second-guessing and shyness.  

However, low self confidence is not a problem that you have to live with permanently. There are many workshops conducted by trained image consultants, which aim to inculcate poise and self-belief in people. Speak with a professional today and get a lasting first impression that will set you apart from all the rest.

Bullying at school - why parents should be aware of children manners and social graces

Many parents have been expressing their concern at the lack of children manners and social graces. It is baffling to see a sharp increase in the number of bullying incidents at school. Such non civil behavior in children can be attributed to the lack of awareness and proper guidance. In view of this disturbing situation, I would like to share about a holiday workshop conduced at Image Flair to help promote children manners and social graces. I would particularly mention the Cool Kind Kid program that aims to help children get along with others and impart anti bullying education. 

I see many parents worried that they have no clue as to how they can play a role in instilling children manners and social graces. My advice would be that the best thing you can do for your child is to get him/her professional help at Image Flair. 

Some of the basic causes of why your child becomes a victim of bullying at school are:

•  Lack of confidence
•  Low self-esteem
•  Inability to interact and socialize with others

At the same time you could be one of those parents receiving reports of your child’s misdemeanor and that he/she might be bullying others at school. This occurs from a lack of respect for others as well as poor children manners and social graces. Participants who have attended some of the workshops in this regard are pleased to find out that the foremost principle taught to children is RESPECT. The values instilled in school going children at these workshops help build their character with a strong stress laid on children manners and social graces.

 

 Parents should be aware of the detrimental effects that bullying can leave on children. Any form of bullying can leave a child with long term personality disorder. Some of the effects include depression, anxiety, anger, insecurity and lack of trust.  The three main forms of bullying that children generally face at school are:

• Physical – This includes shoving, hitting and physically targeting a victim.
• Verbal – Victims are usually teased, threatened and mocked in this type of bullying.
•  Emotional – A constant fear is developed in the victim’s mind.
  

The anti-bullying programs are an effective way of eradicating bullying from school and promoting children manners and social graces. The workshops aim to teach students cooperation and dispute resolution techniques that will help them fit in school and avoid bullying.

Now you can take your kids to fancy restaurants

 

Teen Etiquette & Dining Workshop  - Dec 10, 2011

Becoming an etiquette consultant that teaches children social graces isn’t a typical career choice. However, after helping parents and children in building their character and attaining vital social skills, one can safely say that it is probably one of the most rewarding professions. Here at Image Flair, our professionals are well trained in children social graces. The workshops for dining etiquette have been divided into two age groups:

• Children Social Etiquette and Dining Workshop for ages five to twelve
• Teen Etiquette and Dining Workshop for ages twelve to nineteen
  

After attending these workshops, parents have expressed their satisfaction and have been utterly grateful for the services provided. Parents that once avoided taking their children out to high-end dining functions or venues can now look forward to having dinners and attending social gatherings with their children. The whole point of becoming an etiquette consultant is not just to teach etiquette skills to children, but to see families have an enjoyable time always. Some of the focus areas of teaching children social graces in the above mentioned workshops include:

• Communication skills
• Table manners
• Dining etiquette
• Social interaction
• Making Positive introduction
• Confidence building
• Poise and Posture

At Image Flair, the professionals are certified to handle lessons on children social graces. Some of the instructions that you will come across in dining workshops have been thoroughly studied according to the current social situations. From the minor details to comprehensive character enhancement, the image consultants are well versed in all aspects of children social graces.  After attending special trainings and workshops, children as well as teenagers are able to conduct themselves with poise in restaurants and other outdoor gatherings. The parents no longer have to face awkward situations arising at restaurants due to unruly children and teenagers. It destroys the entire eating experience leaving one embarrassed. 

The children will also receive attendance certificates for their proud achievements at the workshops. Some basic tips and children social graces are given below that you can use to groom your kids before going to a restaurant.

• After being seated, unfold and place the napkin in your lap.
• Begin eating only after everyone at the table has been served
• Use the silverware properly
• Do not talk with food in your mouth!

The above mentioned tips just provide an idea to basic children social graces at restaurants. For a complete guide, it is my advice that you enroll your kids in a professional dining workshop so that they can shine at lunches and dinners!

Help your kids adapt to social situations

As adults, most of us choose to remember the pleasant childhood memories -- the worry-free days, play dates and other priceless moments. We sometimes tend to forget the not-so-lovely aspects of being a kid, whether deliberately or unconsciously. The truth is that children in their own capacity come across numerous social situations that they cannot deal with. This shakes their confidence and also builds up anti-social element in their personality. Children Holiday workshops can help kids adapt to such social situations as they offer professional help on character building. The experience can prove to be life altering for many such children. 

The Children Holiday workshops focus on children belonging to all age groups. Every child is different from the other and it is very important to be fully aware of this individuality. A child is going through a development phase till he/she grows up and enters a professional life. During this time period, the kids need to be taught and prepared for what they might expect from life in future. In fact, to be able to deal with social situations with poise, it becomes almost necessary that kids are enrolled in Children Holiday Workshops at least once. Starting from an early age of four, these Children Holiday Workshops help inculcate the skills and manners required to interact with those around them. 

Children are on a constant path to discovery. They lack the experience and familiarity for dealing with a new environment outside home. In fact, sometimes children are also unaware on how to deal with situations arising at home. This may include on how to respond to parents and siblings. Similarly, they come across many occasions that involve dealing with friends, relatives, neighbors and complete strangers.  Children might get confused and agitated if they are unable to establish a friendly relationship with these people. It may also have a lasting effect on their lives in future. Children Holiday Workshops teach children the necessary etiquettes to communicate, listen, understand and socialize. This helps them adapt to any social situations that may arise at home, school, neighborhood or social gatherings. A noticeable effect can be seen in kids in the form of increased confidence after they have attended Children Holiday Workshops.  It also helps resolve anti-social behavior in children that can be quite detrimental to their personalities as kids and even in future. Bullying, disrespectful behavior, shyness and other such negative traits are a hurdle in a child’s social success. It is important to opt for professional advice such as Children Holiday Workshops on helping children adapt rather than isolating themselves.