INTRODUCTION: THE IMPORTANCE OF MANNERS

Manners are something used every day to make a good

impression on others and to feel good about oneself. No matter
where you are - at home, work, or with friends - practicing good
manners is important.

Good manners are more than opening doors and writing thank
you notes. While opening doors for others and writing notes is
nice, true courtesy goes deeper. Being polite and courteous
means considering how others are feeling.

If you practice good manners, you are showing those around you
that you are considerate of their feelings and respectful. You are
also setting standards for others' behavior and encouraging them
to treat you with similar respect.

Every culture and individual may have different rules or feelings

about what is polite or is not polite. The goal of this course is to
review some of the more basic and common rules of polite
behavior in our society.

These rules may differ from person to person or based on

situation, but there is one rule of good manners (and life, in
general) that is always easy to follow - do unto others as you
would have them do unto you.

Next: Test Your Manners! Take the test and see where you fall on
the manners scale, then read more about some common "Do's
and Don'ts" of manners.