MIND YOUR MANNERS

A Guide to Social Fluency from Sara Jane Ho, etiquette guru, life coach, and star of her own own Netflix series.

The book provides space for Sara Jane to convey her deeper, more expansive definition of etiquette. Which is really a redefinition. Sara Jane as author and guide (cheerfully) sticks a fork into the idea that etiquette is about which fork to use. In Sara Jane's brilliant hands etiquette becomes fresh, dynamic, and situation-specific, rather than strict and unforgiving. It is about inclusion, and a balm for the legions of Millennials and Gen Zers on up who have felt their social ties and social ease unraveling through the shadow epidemic of deep loneliness that has underpinned the global COVID crisis. Like behavioral therapy, Sara Jane's approach works from the outside in: Change starts when we change out of our pajamas, step away from our screens, and interact face to face. By changing our behavior through the power of etiquette, we change our lives.

Sara Jane is an expert cultural navigator, socially fluent in any situation, from dinner with an ambassador to attending a pool party with a bunch of Aussie frat boys (she was 36), and is opening up her bag of tricks to equip readers with the tools to gain that fluency for themselves. Her techniques draw inspiration from her life-long study of human behavior as a "micro-anthropologist", as well as diverse cultures, including her Chinese roots, and can empower anyone from social butterflies to wallflowers to expertly navigate their social lives with ease *and* fun.

What Sara Jane has learned through navigating many cultures since early childhood is that we all move among many "microcultures" every day, even when we never leave home: Friendship and Social Life, Family Ties, Career-ing, Dating & Relationships, and Food & Travel are all different microcultures, and constitute the five divisions of the book. Each section thoughtfully addresses specific aspects of microcultural etiquette, interspersed with specific fixes (FAQ's) in which Sara Jane provides no-nonsense solutions to common questions and dilemmas, salted with wit and candor and often a cross-cultural twist.

With Sara Jane, no question is off limits, and no situation too sticky; she entertains and empowers anyone looking for how to politely handle the not-so-polite situations that can cause social shutdown. Sara Jane's mission is to help every reader jump everyday relationship hurdles to experience the joy and transformation of social fluency - the deep contentment that comes from winning friends... and keeping them.