ETIQUETTE AS A BUSINESS TOOL

Most companies invest in product, marketing, and sales. Almost none invest in how they actually come across.

A modular training programme for professionals, managers, and teams. Ten modules.

One through line: presence that works.

Not a course on table manners. Not a soft-skills workshop. Not about appearances. 

Not optional, if you work in high-stakes environments.

THE GAP NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT

The deal was lost before anyone opened a laptop.

Commercial training covers strategy, messaging, and closing. It almost never covers the layer underneath,  how trust is built or broken in the first three minutes of a room.

| You were credible. The room didn't shift.

Strong product, clear narrative, capable team. And yet the investor didn't move, the client didn't commit, the partner didn't engage. The content was right. Something else wasn't landing.

| Your team represents you in rooms you're not in.

Every person on your team who meets a client, attends a conference, or joins a board dinner is communicating something about your company. Whether that communication is intentional is a choice you make — or don't.

| Cross-cultural signals are easy to misread.

DACH reads directness differently than London. MENA has specific expectations around relationship cadence. What reads as confident in one market reads as aggressive in another. These are learnable distinctions — but only if someone teaches them.

| Digital presence contradicts the in-person one.

Your LinkedIn, your email style, how quickly you respond — these are read before the first meeting. If the digital signal doesn't match the in-room one, the inconsistency registers as a question mark before you've said a word.

TEN MODULS. ONE THROUGH LINE. 

A structured system for managing how you are perceived, how you build trust, and how you lead interactions with intention.

Each module stands alone. Together they form a complete commercial presence system, from first impression to cross-cultural fluency.

01. 

Why etiquette matters in 2025, and what it actually is

Reframing etiquette as a commercial tool, not a social convention. The psychology of first impressions and why they are harder to reverse than most people assume.

02.

The psychology of tact, hierarchy, and social reading

How to read a room accurately, power dynamics, decision-making signals, and the difference between what people say and what they mean. Practical tools for calibrating your behaviour in real time.

03. 

Language of respect: introductions, titles, forms of address

Getting names, titles, and introductions right, in person, in writing, and cross-culturally. The small things that signal whether you know how to operate in professional environments.

04. 

Digital and phone communication, the new etiquette frontier

Email style, response time, LinkedIn behaviour, video call presence. The digital layer of professional communication that most people treat as informal, and shouldn't.

05. 

Everyday micro-signals and their outsized impact

Punctuality, physical space, eye contact, listening behaviour. The signals you send continuously, most of them unconsciously, and how to make them work for you rather than against you.

06. 

Dress code as communication, not fashion

What your appearance communicates before you speak. Context-appropriate dressing across industries, cultures, and occasions, including the specific environments where the rules are unwritten but enforced.

07. 

Business dining and social events as trust-building rituals

Investor dinners, client lunches, conference networking. The social formats where relationships are built or damaged, and the specific behaviours that distinguish people who use them well from those who don't.

08.

Leadership presence and representation

How to occupy a room with authority, without aggression. Public speaking posture, panel behaviour, one-on-one presence with more senior people. What leadership looks like before the title justifies it.

09.

Cross-cultural fluency: EU, US, MENA, APAC

The specific expectations, norms, and signals that differ across business cultures, and the mistakes that cost deals. Built from direct experience operating across CEE, DACH, UK, and international markets.

10.

Applied workshop: personal etiquette map and live scenarios

Taking the programme from concept to behaviour. Each participant builds a personal presence map, identifying their specific gaps and the environments where they matter most. Live scenario practice with feedback.

FORMATS

One programme. Four ways to engage.

Every format draws from the same ten-module system, adapted to the time available and the depth required.

Keynote

60 minutes

A single high-impact session on executive presence, cross-cultural fluency, or the commercial case for etiquette. Ideal for conferences, leadership offsites, and company all-hands.

Half-day Intro

3-4 hours

Three to four modules combined into a focused half-day. Covers the foundations: psychology of first impressions, micro-signals, and digital communication .  - with discussion and Q&A.

Full-day workshop

6 - 7 hours

Six modules with applied exercises and scenario practice. Includes personal etiquette mapping for each participant. Recommended for sales teams, BD functions, and senior management groups.

Custom programme

Multi-session

The full ten-module curriculum delivered across multiple sessions, designed around your team's specific environments, markets, and high-stakes situations. Includes follow-up and individual coaching.

WHO IS IT FOR

Four situations where this programme changes outcomes.

This is not general professional development. These are the specific roles and situations where presence is a commercial variable.

| Senior managers and C-suite leaders

People who already have authority on paper but want to ensure their presence matches it in practice, across cultures, formats, and the specific environments where leadership is read before it's announced.

| Sales and business development teams

The people whose first impression is your company's first impression. Teams that operate in client-facing, partner, and enterprise environments where the commercial relationship is built person to person.

| Founders preparing for investor and client environments

Investor meetings, board dinners, due diligence conversations, first enterprise client presentations. The high-stakes formats where founders are judged not just on the business but on whether they can represent it.

| Anyone representing a company in high-stakes situations

Conferences, panel appearances, international business travel, formal client entertainment. Anyone who steps outside the office as a representative of the organisation, intentionally or not.

"The gap between commercial potential and commercial result is rarely about the product. It is almost always about how the product is represented."

— Jan Hergeth Posvář, Hergeth Consulting

FAQ

What people ask before booking.

Is this about social etiquette or business etiquette?

Entirely business. The programme is built around commercial environments: boardrooms, investor meetings, client dinners, cross-cultural negotiations, and the digital layer of professional communication. Table manners are one small part of Module 7. The rest is about trust, presence, and influence in professional settings.

Can individual modules be delivered separately?

Yes. Each module is designed to stand alone as well as work in sequence. Many organisations start with a Keynote or half-day on a specific topic, cross-cultural fluency or digital communications, and expand from there based on what resonates.

What's the typical group size?

Keynotes work for any size. Workshops are most effective at 8–20 participants, large enough for scenario variety, small enough for genuine interaction and personalised feedback. Custom programmes can be designed for larger groups with breakout structures.

Is this delivered in English or Czech?

Both. The programme is delivered in English for international teams and in Czech for domestic engagements. For mixed teams, the language is agreed at the brief stage. Jan is fluent in Czech, English, and German.

Can this be combined with a GTM or commercial engagement?

Yes, and it often makes sense to do so. GTM strategy gets the team to the right rooms. Executive presence training ensures they perform in them. Several clients combine the Business Presence Audit with a tailored etiquette module for their commercial team, delivered as part of the same engagement.

BOOK A SESSION

Style. Structure. Authority.

A 30-minute conversation to understand your team's specific environments and which format fits best.

Delivered in English, Czech, or German. In-person or remote.