Universities all around the country use their alumni to the best of their abilities, often inviting them back to teach current students of the university how to succeed in their careers and in life in general. Bradley University is no different when it comes to its alumni, on November 19th at 6 p.m., Bradley University hosted its first ever Appetizers with Alumni in the Peplow Pavilion at the Hayden Clark Alumni Center.
Bradley University brought in Callista Gould, an etiquette specialist and the author of her book, The Exceptional Professional. Gould took a different approach than other speakers who have graced Bradley University. Instead of simply lecturing for an hour, she made her presentation very interactive. Asking members of the audience to introduce themselves to other members of the audience. She exemplified an approach that was more about experiencing than listening, causing the audience to go a bit out of their comfort zones.
In addition to Gould’s unorthodox approach she also used humor in her discussion, offering tips and tricks from her experiences that members of the audience could use in the pursual of their ideal careers. Gould also educated the audience on many different etiquette tips, like how to hold a glass, how to address someone and how to shake someone’s hand. However, the most important aspect of etiquette that Gould reinforced was the willingness one should have to break etiquette in order to make someone comfortable, because if someone is not comfortable then having etiquette is basically useless.
After the presentation was complete, audience members were welcomed to the other side of the Peplow Pavilion; where members of the audience could use what they learned from the presentation with actual Bradley alumni who came to the event. Refreshments and appetizers were available and it served as a one hour period to eat and interact while practicing proper etiquette.
Members of the audience seemed to really enjoy the presentation along with the interactive appetizer hour. Junior Conor McEntee enjoyed the event and said “I’ve attended an etiquette class before but I didn’t realize how important it can be to break etiquette in order to make someone feel comfortable so things don’t get rigid and awkward in the future”.
Several other members of the audience enjoyed the presentation, for Junior Thomas Tomkiewicz the most valuable part of the presentation for him was “The line of questioning you develop based on the person you are talking with. You initially start out with a few basic questions that apply to anyone. Then you kind of narrow it down with them to find common ground with them and form a stronger connection”.
Bradley University student Caroline Rael had a similar experience saying “I just really learned what networking was. I came into it not really knowing what networking was and she [Callista Gould] explained that it’s just going in, having conversations with people, getting to know them and hopefully making that connection where one day if they do become a fellow employee or your boss; you can have some common ground with them”.
Overall, it seemed like the Bradley community really appreciated the visit made by Callista Gould and came back with some very valuable knowledge that they can all use to further better their careers and relationships. Of course, this event could not be done without Bradley’s alumni, we hope that they along with Callista Gould can come back next year and do this wonderful event again!
Check out my video, I made for the event: https://youtu.be/cC6Dv55WDMU