All in the best possible taste: protocol school links etiquette to professional, personal life

THESE are the women attempting to bring etiquette back to the 21st century.

THESE are the women attempting to bring etiquette back to the 21st century.

Julie Lamberg-Burnet is principal of the new Sydney School of Protocol, an etiquette school that aims to bring the basics of good behaviour to the digital and business worlds.

The school is accredited and covers everything from personal presentation to social media and table manners.

Ms Lamberg-Burnet, of Darling Point, has spent more than 20 years training airline cabin crews about service.

She intends to show the contemporary side of etiquette in situations that range from teaching a five-year-old how to behave at the dinner table, to improving a chief executive's conversational skills.

"Etiquette hasn't changed for 100 years, but the landscape has changed; we're operating in digital spaces and people want to know how to act appropriately," she said.

"But that doesn't mean the things like the thank-you note aren't still important," school presenter Andrea Brough said.

ETIQUETTE TIPS

Facebook

• Don't post a glamour, vintage or retouched photo on Facebook; your narcissism will be nakedly obvious
• Don't post minute-by-minute updates on your relationship status. - a "single" update could be a sledgehammer blow to any rapprochement

Email

• Avoid sitting on emails always send a prompt reply, even if it is just a promise of a fuller reply later
• Avoid sarcasm and subtle humour unless you know that the reader will get it

Romance

• Punctuality is important. Being up to 15 minutes late should not be a problem, but more than half an hour late may look rude

In Conversation

• Use the 80-20 rule: Speak for 20 per cent of the time and listen for the other 80 per cent