Top Takeaways from William Hanson

What counts as good manners—and who decides? Etiquette expert William Hanson and cultural academic Dr Kirsty Sedgman took an entertaining voyage through the quirks of British decorum and the peculiarities of protocols, from baffling customs to conflicting standards affected by class, culture, and upbringing. The audience were entertained with wry insights and enlightening explanations as William and Kirsty explored the origins of manners and why decency and dignity may still be relevant in a divided world.

Top Takeaways

William Hansen, a boy who every Tuesday would teach the younger years at school how to set a table, is an Etiquette Coach who makes etiquette training fun.

“Manners are just about being a pleasant, decent human being.”

“I wanted to know the justification and logic behind etiquette.”

“With real conversations you can’t edit them after you’ve spoken like you can with texts. Something about modern life makes it difficult to engage. We’re not practicing communication.”

“Queueing is something we should absolutely hold onto and be proud of as a nation”

“We need to understand that manners can be used to produce artificial hierarchy status but also to make a cleaner, fairer, kinder society.”

William on social media: “just because we can respond to or post something, it doesn’t mean we should.”

“Manners are classless”

“The rise in anxiety and mental health issues with younger gender is down to the lack of opportunities there are now to learn how to communicate and engage with people.”

Further Reading

• On Civility: Manners, Morality, and the Etiquette of Democracy by Stephen L. Carter While American in origin, many arguments about civility and public life map well onto British contexts of politeness, free speech, and social contract.
• Manners That Matter: The Six Everyday Social Skills Missing from School Curriculums by Caroline Taggart A British-focused book addressing everyday courtesy (manners at home, in the workplace, in public) and how little schools teach it.
• Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger (a lighter novel) Though fiction, it cleverly plays with Victorian manners to reflect how rigid social codes can both empower and constrain — good for provoking discussion about manners today.
  

Related Podcasts, Videos & Media

• BBC / YouTube — “Putting Manners on Us” featuring William Hanson.  A BBC show in which Hanson explores how manners operate in Northern Ireland and the UK more broadly. YouTube
• The English Manner podcast / media content. The English Manner (William Hanson’s organisation) produces insights, blog posts, and sometimes media content about etiquette in modern British life. 
  

UK Etiquette / Civility Resources

• Polished Manners (UK) — Provides etiquette training for adults and children, with a modern twist and applications to real life (emails, social media, professional settings) in the UK 
• HistoricaUK – British Etiquette & Culture — A useful primer on British manners, like queuing, polite speech, personal space, greetings.