The Lost Art of Etiquette and Social Graces

Etiquette and social graces have become a lost art. We’re so busy trying to meet deadlines and care for our daily lives, we forget what manners, charm and social graces can accomplish. These lost skills are the tools used to separate our social levels. You could never mingle in the upper echelon of society without them. Without protocol and good behavior, our level of poise, confidence and self-assurance lands us in situations that sometimes spin out of our control. Etiquette shows us how to respond rather than react to the situations in our life. Knowing how to properly carry oneself and how to communicate effectively, helps us get what we want out of life resulting in people caring about who we are. Once we understand this formula, we carry with us a set of tools that can effectively be used to navigate life and our relationships with others.Enter Samantha von Sperling a classically trained dancer with a speech and public relations background. Her dance career ended one morning when she found herself unable to walk, so von Sperling became an expert in what she knew best “The Art of Etiquette.” Her motto “ If you’re going to do something be the best or don’t bother.”

Raised in Boston by super high achieving European parents, you can see where Samantha gets her drive. Her background had her dining with ambassadors and presidents in Europe and South America, and it was in both places that she learned about etiquette and so much more. “I knew at an early age what the protocol was,” states von Sperling. She has become the best, teaching corporate professionals, celebrities, socialites, and even soccer moms this lost, but essential, art. As she puts it, “It’s everyone’s dirty little secret.” Her ten-year-old company, Polished Social Image Consultants (www.socialimage.net), includes lessons in etiquette, dance, speech and overall style, in addition to personalized shopping. Newspapers and TV shows have taken notice of Samantha’s expertise and she has been featured in The New York Times, O The Oprah Magazine, The Boston Globe, Time Magazine, Bloomberg Business Week, Fox News, Made, Inside Edition, Today in New York and more.

Samantha also volunteers workshops for the under privileged, knowing that without social skills, they don’t stand a chance of moving ahead.

I asked Samantha what the one thing was that nobody knew about her and the answer was a wish. “I wish I had the genetic make-up to be a Pageant Queen. I would have taken it and run with it. I’ve got the drive to do it.” Queen or not, the diminutive von Sperling is 5’3 and is the Queen of etiquette. She penned her own dance-etiquette column, and now Samantha has agreed to pen an etiquette column for T2C. So get ready to ask your questions and look for Samantha’s first article “Recipe for Seduction.”