Professional Help: Help me stop apologizing unnecessarily
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We all need a little help to get through life sometimes. From everyday questions to more complex problems, we’re asking the experts to lend us a hand. Throughout the series, we’ll hear some direct advice for us not-so-direct Minnesotans.
Our ask: Help me stop apologizing unnecessarily.
Our professional: Lizzie Post of the Emily Post Institute
Over-apologizing is so common in Minnesota, and in the Midwest generally, that it’s a favorite joke for comedians in the region. Maybe you can relate.
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MPR News producer Gretchen Brown takes a closer look at where this tendency comes from, including the Scandinavian influence on Minnesota culture. Then she turns to an expert with her own lineage of politeness.
Lizzie Post, great-great-granddaughter of etiquette writer Emily Post and co-president of the Emily Post institute, shares some advice on when and how to say, “sorry.”
Listen to more Professional Help segments here.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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We attempt to make transcripts for Minnesota Now available the next business day after a broadcast. When ready they will appear here.