Smile and Succeed for Teens

Preparing Teens to Succeed in the Workplace

Teaching teens social skills–“people” skills–is often overlooked, but it is important for their success in the world. Whether teens are looking to obtain employment while still in school, preparing for college interviews, or simply gearing up for their future careers, Smile & Succeed for Teens: A Crash Course in Face-to-Face Communication helps them master important skills.

Smile & Succeed for Teens is presented in a teen-friendly format, with short chapters, animated drawings, lots of lists and examples, and clear explanations of the concepts for improving people skills, such as communication, selling, customer service, fundraising, and more. With two teens in our homeschool, interviews, jobs, and college applications are close on the horizon, so Smile & Succeed for Teens has become an integral part of our life skills curriculum.

Each of the seven chapters is divided into smaller sections of just a few pages, so my boys read one section per day, and then we sit down together to discuss it and practice the skills. Smile & Succeed for Teens covers so many things that we didn’t think about teaching our teens, like eye contact, shaking hands firmly, and even mastering electronic etiquette. The format of the book makes it easy to use as a handbook, so my boys will reference it as needed when they begin venturing out into the “real” world.

One of my favorite tidbits of advice is from the section on customer service that explains how and why to acknowledge new customers, even when you’re busy. Many, many places of business fail to do this, and it is such a seemingly simple thing to do that makes a world of difference in my impression of a place. I find this fact particularly interesting: “Seventy percent of small business customers will make their purchases at another shop if they feel the sales staff doesn’t care” (p. 69).

The author, Kirt Manecke, shares more about the benefits of teaching teens communication skills here.

You can enter our giveaway for a chance to win a copy of Smile & Succeed for Teens signed by Kirt by following the instructions in the Rafflecoper form below.

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