United Kingdom: First Name or Title? - Part 1

From ExecutivePlanet.com

Addressing others with respect

Despite their reputation for stiff formality, the British are in fact quite informal and the immediate use of first names is increasingly prevalent in all walks of British life, especially amongst the young (under 40-45 years of age) and in the newer industries.

Nevertheless, you should always wait to be invited to use first names before doing so yourself. Quite often the invitation will be spontaneous but it may never happen at all. Until then - and not all Britons like the up-front American approach - you should be careful to follow strict protocol, especially when dealing with older members of the 'Establishment.' No one is offended by exaggerated correctness whereas premature informality may be deemed presumptuous. Equally, it is best to avoid the American habit of constantly repeating someone’s name in the course of a conversation once on first-name terms.

Exhaustive manuals such as Debrett’s Correct Form set out the full intricacies of how one should properly address the Queen, a lord, a bishop or an admiral but a simple and effective guiding principle in ordinary circumstances is to follow the title given on a business card or the one given when first introduced.

The same principles apply to writing letters. You should start off formally and continue until your correspondent hints (e.g. by signing off with just his or her first name) that it is appropriate to switch. Some correspondences, however, may continue formally until the writers actually meet. Subordinates may never feel comfortable addressing their superiors by their first name either in writing or orally.

The rules for e-mail are more relaxed but there are some who write e-mails as if they were writing a ‘normal’ letter. In any case, there is no excuse for not using the spellchecker.

Different conventions apply when it comes to official documents, meetings, conferences etc. where it is common practice to use full titles even if all the participants would ordinarily be on first-name terms. Thus: ‘Mr Chairman’, ‘the Commander-in-Chief thinks’, ‘the Prime Minister is mistaken’, and so on.

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