Eti - Q Test Professional & Graduate University Etiquette Business Dining DiningThings to Learn and Do

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Harold Almon Etiquette Coach
Be at Ease School of Etiquette Austin

What to do.  Two Pre Steps: RSVP    Accept the ‘kind’ invitation and the Dress request.   Identify Meal restrictions.   Get Coupons.  In addition to the universal rule for eating in company, "Eat a little something  after you leave home.” And get directions.

Because the more you climb the corporate ladder the more dining protocols matter; there comes a time to transcend coffee shop habits and dining hall ways, and to display rules of etiquette for business dining. It is a ritual at which more than eating is done. On the way to the top there are stations and lines at which to stop.
Station 1. The Meeting Line
1.       Be punctual, arrive just in time, whatever this means in your community.       (Occasionally show up with a present.)
Station 2. Name Badge Placement
2. Know where to wear that name badge. Get a name badge holder.
Station 3. Something to Drink
3.       Know how to respond to an offer of an alcoholic drink. During daylight, order a “Virgin” drink over a “Non-Alcoholic one.” It is just easier to say. A juice can be a substitute for an alcoholic drink. Know “What can I get you,” and what it will cost.   Know what to do with that cocktail napkin.  
4.     Learn to hold a glass by the base.  Lift the glass with the right hand.  
 Avoid the crane; drink without poking someone in the eye; keep your elbows and arms down close to your sides while taking a drink from a glass. When not drinking, keep your right hand warm, dry, and free. Appear to be drinking less than the host, hostess, or person who is picking up the tap. At an evening event, make any drink Virgin (especially after your first.) (And wash your hands before you come to or stay at the table.)  
5 .       Learn to survive a business party: hold a napkin, glass, and plate in the left hand functionally. 
6.       Mock tail Introductions Do introductions correctly.
7.       Notes on Handshaking Shake hands the right way.  
8.       Mingle. Be good company. When someone gives you a business card, know what to do with it and what to have to give back. You can say, “I am temporarily out.   I can email you my resume or contact information."  
Station 4. The Line to the Table
9.       Learn who should get the first seat of honor at a table. Review the  Plan de table.
10.     Table Talk.    Do table introductions. Prepare for conversation. Talk about things other than work (unless it is the purpose for the meal). Talk, some unseen food can still be in your mouth. In business, keep the people at your table company. (Remember, for some, your conversation is the entertainment.)
At a family dinner, know an invocation acceptable to your host’s culture Someone may say, would you care to say a prayer?
Know what to do when someone stops to visit you at table.
Know how to interact with dining staff.

11.     Know the current USA menu number and order of courses. Know the rules of Menus and formatting Menu Cards. Learn what to do after reading that reusable menu. Notes to self, if a menu in not Prix Fixe, order something you know how to eat.

12.     Rules for Setting a Place Setting with Spoons: a napkin is to be placed center a place setting in absence of a first course. In a home, the spoon for coffee can be omitted from a place setting.

Maintain your cover: (place setting for one,) or establish one. A cover is to be free of technology.  

13.     Know when is a water glass to be at a table. Look for drinks to be served from the right (refreshing.)

14.     Setting an Advanced Formal Place Setting Know Rules for Using Flatware: the butter spreader and bread and butter plate are omitted.  Know which fork to use and when and how: name six.

15.     When seated at a table, know when is a napkin to be picked up and placed in your lap. 

16. Notes to Self (Sit up straight. Bring food to you)   (Avoid duck and chuck.) 

17.     Rules for Bread and Butter      Avoid bread until you receive a main course dish; remember bread is not a first course   Avoid leaving teeth marks  in bread that you are eating. 

18.      Using Glasses at Table  Know how many refills of water can you get. 

Station 5.  The Line to the Food

19.     Filling a plate take small amounts of food. (Practice eating in courses over eating in piles.) Look for food to be served from the (leaving) side.  Avoid taking too little, or too much, or more in visual calories than those dining around you. Try a little of everything unless restricted by religion, health, or culture.  

20.     Take a hand rest often.  You can rest your elbows on the table - in between courses. (Continental style, you can talk with a knife and fork in your hands. Keep them low.) Place your implements in the rest position for the style in which you are eating, anytime you want.

21.     Eat each meal in an accepted style.

Cut items, one or two pieces at a time.  (Yes, you may eat only one thing at a time.)  Sit up straight. Take small amounts of food.  Close your mouth around the edge of any fork placed in it. Chew each portion with your mouth closed, and saver each bite. Taste buds live and digestion begins there, and not the stomach – yes that’s right.  Avoid chewing with your mouth open. "It is disturbing and annoying.”  Avoid eating too little, too much, or too fast, or acting as if the meal is to be your last. Make as little noise as possible. Keep your hands on the table. Pace yourself. Eat each course in such a manner as to finish it along with the person to your right.  When at a loss as to how to eat a particular dish, you can ask." The lesson most likely will begin with a smile. In public, leave a little something of each course on your plate. 

22.     Avoid adding salt or pepper to food prior to tasting it.  When salt is requested, ensure both pepper and salt are passed.

23.      When cutting meat, slice with the grain, and cut across the grain, or fillet it. Avoid seconds in the same place, or in any home not your own.  

24.     Know of what an after dinner salad is to consist.                                  

25  Correcting the table is done before serving dessert. When it is time, “Take a break.”  Before temporarily leaving the table place flatware in the rest or finished position for the style in which you are eating; get up; place your napkin in your chair.

Know what to do when someone visits your table.  Between the salad course and dessert, visit Station Six: the bathroom. Make Checks and repairs. Know the answer to the question, “Where can I wash my hands.”  

25.    Know how to eat dessert in the Continental Style.    
Station 7. When it’s time, sing the company song.  When it is time, dance. Let the host pay (and tip) where required. OK back to class.

Suggest after meal entertainment: order in store, suggests a coffee spot, shopping,  dining at another location, dancing, an cultural exhibition, or when to go home.

26.  Before permanently leaving a table, place flatware in the finished position for the style in which you are eating. Leave each course plate in position until it is removed by a waitperson or replaced by the next plate. Look for food to be removed from the  retrieving side. Avoid helping: unless asked, even when you use to wait tables. At a dinner is not the place to display this trait.    

Place your napkin in a mock fold to the (leaving) side of your place setting, (again napkin on the side.)   A napkin is to be crisp at the end. Avoid putting any napkin on your used plate or in any glass. Avoid stacking plates or making “trash”  plates.  Get up and push in your chair until it is six inches away from the edge of the table. Take a picture of your plate. Just kidding, I will do that for you.

Remember things to take-away:  Name  Badge,  Name Place Cards,  Singed Menu Cards,  Pens,  Party Favors,  Program, Pictures,  Engraved gift,  Contacts, and personal effects.  (No doggie bags.) Some places will let you order a new order to go.

Station 8

27.  Say Thank You, then, say thanks again later by note. Get a Fountain pen Correspondence cards, Envelops & Stamps. Place your return address on the back.

Remember reciprocity, where required is to be in-kind. Read and research as much as possible about the culture in which you will be the host.

Watch each act of eating with an open mind, eye, and heart. Practice diligently. While eating in company, there are things to learn and do. – Master Business Dinner Etiquette This is the short course  For  more answers read the blog, the book, or bring this test to class. N/A items are really other things to do.

  

I know you want - Manners in a minute – done – but just some. Math takes months, but to Get Etiquette takes practice that’s the rest of life’s test. 

-Fast Food Etiquette it is the same except for who is responsible for Bussing Your Table  
Professional & University Dining Eti - Q Test Things to Learn and Do     Get Etiquette Outclass the Competition Etiquette for Professionals and Graduate Students