This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "Life be not short but that there is always time for courtesy." I find myself inclined to agree. Although our lives seem to be increasingly busy, there is always time for social graces and good manners. Just ask Ellen Reddick.

After working as a process improvement specialist for a large technology company for many years, Ellen realized that training workers in "soft skills" — or personal and interpersonal skills — had been neglected virtually everywhere across the country. She resolved to do something to fix the problem.

When she returned to Utah, Ellen took classes in professional presence and became a certified facilitator and etiquette and protocol trainer. Using her background in management, Ellen and her business partner, Alice Belisle, launched The Impact Factory.

Ellen tells me her main objective with The Impact Factory is to teach people proper etiquette and protocol to help them become powerful and professional individuals who are at ease with themselves. First impressions are normally made within the first seven seconds of meeting someone, and the first 12 words someone says are the most powerful. Ellen says the training she offers through The Impact Factory is designed to help her clients excel in any business situation.

The Impact Factory offers workshops, seminars and training sessions to help business professionals learn proper etiquette on everything from dress and grooming, to proper behavior at business luncheons. Ellen says she often works with training departments at major corporations, where she enjoys seeing the etiquette she teaches being implemented throughout the company. As a supplement to etiquette training, Alice teaches courses in software development.

In addition to training business professionals, The Impact Factory also offers workshops and seminars at public events, and for teenagers or individual clients. Ellen tells me there's nothing she enjoys more than seeing the self assurance that comes from knowing and following proper etiquette.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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