Becoming a business etiquette speaker takes three things working together: the poise to command a room, the persistence to keep going after a client says no, and the courage to say the thing nobody else in the room will say. Twenty years of standing in front of Deloitte, Toyota, Siemens, and Pfizer has taught me that the etiquette itself is the easy part. Those three qualities determine whether you build a career or a hobby, not the etiquette itself.
Grace: What It Looks Like in the Room
A room reads composure before it reads anything you say. That is grace. I have walked into rooms of 400 participants and rooms of 12 executives, and the same rule holds every time: people watch how you carry a pause before they listen to what you say. Grace shows up in the handshake, the eye contact, the way you answer a hostile question without flinching. It is not softness. It is control.
Grit: What Happens When It Doesn’t Go the Way You Planned
Grit is keeping going. It is strength in front of your participants. It is knowing your message will land.
Gumption: Saying What Needs to Be Said
Companies hire business etiquette speakers to say the uncomfortable thing clearly and kindly.
What Grace, Grit, and Gumption Add Up To
None of this replaces a curriculum. You need a framework for what to teach, a structure for how to price it, and a plan for how to find your first client. I put together what I know about starting this business: what to charge, how to get your first client, and why the curriculum matters. It’s all in one guide.
Get the Guide: How to Launch an Etiquette Training Business
What to charge, how to get your first client, and why the curriculum matters.
Related Article: This Is Why I Get Hired
