Sara Hacala Featured Speaker at The Westport Woman’s Club
Author Sara Hacala, a certified business etiquette and protocol trainer, is committed to the belief that civility is an essential component of our culture. Surveys show that in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven society, we are getting ruder and less respectful of others. By a show of hands, WWC members attending the November luncheon, agreed with this assessment. Many people view incivility as the “new normal.” But Ms. Hacala believes that each of us can help create the change needed to reverse this trend.
Growing up south of the Mason-Dixon line where manners were an integral part of life, Ms. Hacala learned from an early age to appreciate the fine points of appropriate behavior. She discovered her real passion when she realized how social skills could change and elevate people’s lives, allowing them to communicate respectfully and effectively. “Science shows that kindness and generosity have a positive ripple effect,” said Ms. Hacala. Every interaction we have can make someone feel better or worse about him or herself whether in social settings, the workplace, school or home. In her new book, Saving Civility: 52 ways to Tame Rude, Crude & Attitude for a Polite Planet, she lays out positive behaviors within our control that can help make a difference.
Ms. Hacala, a frequent speaker on the topic of civility, is president of Sara Hacala & Associates LLC, which provides full-service training and seminars in all aspects of business etiquette, manners and civility for corporate personnel, university students and individuals. She also works in high schools with “at-risk” students, teaching vital interpersonal skills to help them access the business arena and increase their opportunities for success. A world traveler and consummate hostess, she is a graduate of the Protocol School of Washington.
The Westport Woman’s Club, organized in 1907, is a non-profit philanthropic organization dedicated to volunteerism and the raising of funds in support of the educational, charitable, cultural and public health services in Westport and surrounding towns. To learn more, visit
www.westportwomansclub.org.
