Sara Jane Ho's Mind Your Manners: How to Be Your Best Self in Any Situation is an engaging guide to improving social fluency in real-life situations and across the digital realm. Ho compares good etiquette to behavioral therapy, explaining that both can enhance mood and boost confidence. Her international upbringing and life experiences in the United States contribute to her nuanced approach to social life, friendships, work, dating, family relationships, and travel in an era of global interconnectivity.
Ho serves as the charming host of the popular Netflix series Mind Your Manners, and her first book continues her show's mission to help people "jump everyday relationship hurdles and politely handle the not-so-polite situations that can cause social shutdown." Contemporary etiquette isn't about which fork to use, she explains, but about cultivating connection. Etiquette is also contextual, so Ho pays special attention to the "microcultures" that readers navigate on a daily basis.
Throughout the book's five sections, Ho shares her secrets to social fluency, the ability to know "what to do anywhere, with anyone, in any situation." In the context of dating, for instance, social fluency means interacting with empathy, "a rapport with another person, a two-way street for communication." Important pointers on digital dating and weddings and a selection of frequently asked questions about love round out the robust section dedicated to the affairs of the heart.
Whether readers simply want to learn how to get someone to stop talking with their mouth full or want to become a full-blown social magnet, Mind Your Manners offers entertaining anecdotes and measured guidance for every level of communal engagement. --Shahina Piyarali