About Main Street Manners
Timeless Manners, Real-World Impact
Main Street Manners guides students to develop the communication skills, confidence, and self-awareness they need to thrive in school, online, in interviews, and in life. Our coaching focuses on much needed soft skills which are the foundation for personal and professional success. As a recent Harper’s Magazine article highlights the soft skills including communication, self-awareness, and adaptability are increasingly recognized as essential in today’s schools and workplaces. Though an interactive and engaging programs, manners become relatable, as do the notions of self control, teamwork, empathy and flexibility.
The format is flexible and interactive, meeting students where there is the most need while respecting where they are developmentally and emotionally.
Living the Values We Teach
Meet Rebecca Bahr
I spent my formative years in England at an all-girls British convent school worlds away from my earlier life in the States. Alongside traditional academics, we learned French, Latin, ballet, and embroidery. We wore navy uniforms, seasonal dresses, white gloves and a straw bowler hat, which I still own. Lunch was served at linen-covered tables with silver cutlery and fine china. We were expected to sit up straight, mind our manners, and follow every rule—think Madeline, minus the humor.
Years later, back in Chicago, I juggled college, career, marriage, and motherhood. But my British upbringing stayed with me. As I raised my children, I noticed many of their peers lacked basic manners or knew how to behave as a guest. It surprised and inspired me.
A longtime admirer of Emily Post, I enrolled in a weeklong certification course at the Emily Post Institute. There, I gained the tools to teach etiquette to children and young adults, with a curriculum rooted in both tradition and developmental insight.
But I didn’t want to lecture about forks and napkins. I wanted to make it fun. So I created Main Street Manners, a fast-paced, interactive game for families and small groups that brings etiquette to life. Today, I also offer an engaging slide presentation for educators and schools, young professionals groups and organizations covering everything from table manners to small talk.
I believe good manners are timeless. With Main Street Manners, I’ve combined classic civility with modern relevance to help the next generation move through the world with confidence, kindness, and grace.
“Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good manners, no matter what fork you use.”
— Emily Post
What We Believe
Good manners aren’t about perfection. They’re about presence, self-respect, and how we treat others. At Main Street Manners, we believe:
Confidence grows through practice
Respect starts with awareness
Social intelligence is a skill, not a personality trait
Poise can be taught, not just inherited
Small interactions shape big opportunities
Who We Serve
From elementary classrooms to country clubs, we meet students where they are and help them grow.
Main Street Manners is perfect for those in grade school thru high school, college and those entering the work force. Coaching is also suitable for schools, clubs, churches and professional organizations.
What Participants Can Expect
Main Street Manners coaching is different from other etiquette programs as it is fun, interactive and engaging. Through interactive slides and lively discussion, individuals discover appropriate behaviors and understand their value. Learning manners in a modern mindful way is to to acknowledge that words and actions have an effect on others; these are not only soft skills but life skills.
A myriad of topics can be addressed as the program can be structured to meet particular needs for schools, businesses, organizations and other groups.
Ready to Start?
“First we take a bite, then we close our mouth,
then we chew, then we swallow, then we talk”
- Margaret age 4