Social Etiquette and Good Manners/Expert Profile

Expertise

Domestic etiquette, international protocol, self-presentation/grooming, social manners, foreign customs, child etiquette, table manners.

Experience in the area

I am regularly on television, radio and international media commenting on modern manners; I teach for international protocol and hospitality consultants 'The English Manner' (www.theenglishmanner.com), as well as instructing on my own. My youth gives me a fresh, contemporary perspective on the traditional, meaning my advice is current and up-to-date.

Publications

PRINT: Tatler, Sunday Telegraph, Waitrose Food Illustrated, The Observer, Practical Parenting, Aberdeen Press & Journal, Classic FM Magazine, Manchester Evening News, Gala (France), AMICA (Germany), SABADO (Portugal), InStyle (Germany), Somerset Life. TV: BBC The One Show, BBC Sunday Life, Big Brother UK (as a commentator, not a housemate!), Channel M, Ladette to Lady, BBC The Big Questions. RADIO: BBC Radio 5 Live, LBC 97.3FM, BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Essex, BBC Radio Coventry, XFM Manchester ...for a current and full list, please see my website (www.williamhanson.co.uk)

Education/Credentials

Educated at Clifton College, Bristol, UK for 12 years. 4 A-Levels: English Literature, English Language, Theology, History. Trained in voice at the world-renowned Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, UK. Now studying for a BA (Hons) Degree at the University of Manchester, UK, in English Language.

Past/Present Clients

Client confidentiality is key in my business, but I have worked with worldwide brands, schools and charitable organisations, private households and individuals alike.

What do you like about this subject?

Manners and etiquette - contrary to popular belief - are not old fashioned and stuffy as some think. They have been with us since the dawn of time and will never leave us. Everything we do has a protocol and etiquette attached to it - even if we don't want there to be!

What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?

One can never know EVERYTHING about any subject field, but one certainly strives to.

Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:

In conventional etiquette, men should hold open doors for ladies and let them pass through first. But what is the correct way for a man and woman to go through a revolving door? Answer: The man enters first, to push the door round for the woman, but emerges after her (and thus goes round twice). [But I think we'll let this custom go for the better.]