Always appear put together. In the way you present yourself physically in every sense of the word and how you speak.

You want to have zero excuses for why your hair is not brushed. Unless your home was burning down and it was an absolute emergency or you received a call of someone having to go to the hospital – these are the only times excuses should exist. Otherwise there should be none.

As ladies, we have to be disciplined and consistent with our hygiene, grooming, the way we dress, how our clothes are steamed without creases and taken care of and most of all speaking with poise.

Why is this? Why such rigid guidelines, Gia?

When you attend a meeting, nobody wants to hear your excuses. People simply want to get started. You have zero down time for wasting other people’s time saying, “I do not have my situation together. My life is out of order which is why I’m taking precious time out of your day to excuse myself.” 

This is highly inconsiderate and can even be rude. You don’t want to explain yourself and say, “Sorry my clothes are winkly.” These little things say everything about you. That you don’t care about the smaller things when you show up. You have to leave no room for weakness for people to pick you apart where you do have control. Elegance is in the details. 

If you have a blouse that is not ironed or steamed, your boss and their associates will say, “She doesn’t care about things as small as her shirt or brushing her hair. It takes one minute to do. Why should we trust her with a big project?” 

You also never know that one person who can change your life or if you will change theirs simply because you presented yourself well. 

I’ll have a link below so you can visually see this checklist. Visit the link after this video to access it all if you’re not taking notes. I don’t expect you to be, but the link will be even more eye opening and helpful to being a classy and polished lady!

Here is a checklist of things to keep in mind before going out into the public:

1. Fundamentals: Eat right, sleep right, exercise right. 
2. Hygiene. Shower and teeth.
3. Grooming: Hair, skin, nails.
4. Makeup: Keep it simple and find a routine.
5. Clothing: Outfit ready the night prior. No stains, loose threads or creases. 
6. Bag & shoes match and are clean with a good wipe. 
7. Poise when you speak.

What is poise?

It’s when you have great posture and confidence when you speak calmly. Even if you’re a mouse in a room of lions, wherever you are in the office hierarchy, or if you’re at a social gathering meeting new people who happen to be powerful or successful, others will see you as a lion also if you speak, stand and sit with poise. 

Nobody wants to be around a high stress, frantic person. Everyone wants someone who will handle the situation and is capable. When you are under a stressful situation but you are calm, you will be the heroine of the day. 

You command the situation.

I’ll go through everything one by one. Posture. If you are sitting in a room full of women, nobody wants to talk to the woman who is slumped over. Even if you are not confident and you have the body language of someone who is, you will fulfill this pygmalion effect. People will see you as confident, therefore you will become this because you practice it so much. Get into the habit of having fabulous posture. 

If you’re at a job interview, they’re going to hire the woman with fabulous posture. If you’re at a party and you want people to approach you instead of you approaching them, people are more likely to talk with someone with great posture. 

Next is your voice.

If you’re nervous. Take a deep breath. I’m dead serious. A really deep breath. 7 seconds in 11 seconds out. Do this a few times before public speaking, meeting someone who makes you shake in your shoes or any situation where you will be nervous, shuts down your peripatetic nervous system. It’s the fight or flight system in your brain that clears your mind, calms you down and gets you to think clearly. You can do this in traffic if it’s stressful and it will calm you down. This is why neuroscientists encourage meditation and journaling. You get all the stressful ideas out of your head and think clearly with higher functioning brain power. 

Speak calmly. That’s all this is. Pause. Don’t talk too much. Don’t say every single thought that comes through your mind.

A lot of being a lady is being a leader. Leaders only speak when they have something valuable to say. Not when they’re trying to impress someone or journal out loud. Leaders simply are. We take action as ladies. Talking will not help you if you don’t say the right things. 

If you are late. 

Remember that action is power. Knowledge is not power. You can have all this knowledge but do nothing with it and play video games all day. If you have a hard time doing these things, do them one at a time little by little, because it’s a journey. It takes one step at a time and you don’t have to force yourself to do everything and be expert level 100 all in one day. Feminine energy is going with the flow and knowing your capabilities. I know you can do this, because whatever a man can do, you can do it in heels while bleeding. 

Find more etiquette posts here.