This week, the National Governors Association hosted a Protocol Master Policy Series session in partnership with Meridian International Center, a nonpartisan center for diplomacy based in Washington, D.C. The session was led by Natalie Jones, Executive Vice President at Meridian and a former official in the U.S. Office of the Chief of Protocol, where she worked to arrange state visits and meetings between senior U.S. leaders and heads of state from around the world. Protocol officers and staff from governors’ offices across the country joined the call.
Protocol serves three roles: cultural bridge, relationship builder and logistical choreographer. This session focused on diplomatic forms of address, a foundational element of protocol that governs how officials are named, titled, and greeted in both written and verbal contexts. Jones walked participants through best practices for identifying correct honorifics, navigating naming conventions across different cultures and adapting forms of address to specific use cases such as invitations, tent cards and in-person introductions. Participants were encouraged to use available reference resources, coordinate with delegation counterparts to confirm details, and establish internal processes to ensure consistency across all staff and materials.
