Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Forums About Advertise Blog Network Contact Be An Author

Dining Etiquette for the Professional Networker

Dining Etiquette for the Professional Networker

You are meeting a business contact for lunch for the first time. Your garments have been chosen with great care to establish a professional image. As you enter the restaurant, you discretely check your reflection in the glass of the door and take one last look at your shoes. You have prepared what you want to say, but have you given any thought to dining etiquette?

There is something about the dining table that makes it a strategic proving ground for prospective employees, possible suppliers of goods and services, and most importantly, prospective customers. The white tablecloth and its accompanying tableware can be a bewildering battlefield if you are not equipped with an accurate map. Dining etiquette can provide you with the strategies required to turn the table in your favour, allowing you to focus on connecting with prospects, rather than offending them with your lack of good manners.

Test your dinning protocol knowledge by either answering “true” or “false” to the following questions:

1. At a formal dinner in someone’s home, once everyone has been seated, you may begin eating.

2. You are hosting a business lunch and your guest orders an appetizer. Even though you are not too hungry, you should also order an appetizer.

3. When you have finished eating all the courses of a meal, you should place your napkin over your plate to indicate that you are done.

4. A red wine glass is smaller than a white wine glass.

5. A colleague invited you out for lunch. Your host should be ready to pay for the whole meal and tip.

Answers:

1. False. At a formal dinner, when the host picks up his/her fork to begin, you may take this as your cue to commence eating.

2. True. There is nothing worse than eating alone. Even if your appetite is small, when a guest orders an appetizer, you should do likewise in order to keep your guest company. The same holds true for dessert and drinks. However, if your guest orders an alcoholic drink and you prefer a soft drink, do not provide an explanation for your choice. Simply order what you want without hesitation.

3. False. Whether it is made of paper or cloth, never place your napkin over your plate. To signal that you have finished eating all of your courses, your dinner knife is placed on your plate to the right going diagonally with the sharp side down. Your fork is placed below it, parallel to the knife, with the tines up or down. Your napkin is casually folded and placed to the left of your plate.

4. False. The white wine glass is smaller than the red wine glass. White wine is most often served chilled and in a large glass will warm up too quickly. The surface area or the wine poured into a red wine glass is larger and allows the bouquet of the wine to be available more quickly, thus increasing the enjoyment of the wine.

5. True. Handling the bill can create a lot of tension and misunderstanding. Unless you are close friends who have been in the habit of sharing the cost of your meals together, the person who extends an invitation to dine out, should be prepared to pay for the bill. Not everyone is aware of this, so if you are the guest, offer to help with the cost, so as not to embarrass your host. If your host starts to divide the bill in half, follow through with your contribution. On the other hand, if you are the host and your guest offers to pay for their portion of the bill, enthusiastically say, “Thank you, however I invited you to lunch. Please allow me to pay.” It would be polite if the guest answered with, “Thank you. Lunch will be on me next time” and then made a note to contact the host within a few months to return the favour.





Dining Etiquette for the Professional Networker - To learn more about this author, visit Catherine Bell's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

Article Feedback
 Article Feedback No article feedback found.
  Leave Your Feedback
article feedback

Article Feedback
David Barr
David Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website

Anne Barr
Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

John Brennan
John Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website

Jay Kubassek
(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek)  In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.

 

As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)

 

Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. 

 

Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper.  Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website


To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us.

About The Author


Catherine Bell
(Visit Catherine's Website) Additional business protocol tips that foster good business relationships can be found in Managing Your Image Potential: Creating Good Impressions in Business by Catherine Graham Bell.

Catherine Bell is a Silver author on EvanCarmichael.com
About The Author

View Author Blog
View Author Blog

View Author Video
View Author Video

Free Downloads


Catherine Bell's

Complete
List Of
Branding
Articles

Name
Email
If you enjoyed this article, get Catherine Bell's Complete List of Branding Articles For FREE!

More Catherine Bell
Dining Etiquette for the Professional Networker
Guidelines for Seamless Introductions
Is Your Image Networking for You
How to Work a Room
Handshake Protocol
Free Downloads


 
 
 


Evan Elite Authors
David Barr  
David Acheson  
John Power  
Evan Elite Authors

Become An Author
Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details.
Become An Author

Evan's Latest Video
Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media
Evan's Latest Video

Business Opportunities
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"

How to Start An Online Business

Click Here To Learn More
Business Opportunities



Evan's Newsletter
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
Name:
Email:
Evan`s Newsletter

Free Downloads
Host Beneficiary Icon Host Beneficiary
SEO Today Icon SEO Today
Elevating Your Business Icon Elevating Your Business
Manners, Positivity, Heroics Icon Manners, Positivity, Heroics
Speed Business Networking Icon Speed Business Networking
Free Downloads - Complete List

Entrepreneur Tools and Guides
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts - Best Posts for Bloggers
The Top 10 ProBlogger Posts
Best Posts for Bloggers
 
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top 50 Marketing Blogs
Top Marketing Blogs of 2009
 
Entrepreneur Tools and Guides

SEO For Africa
SEO For Africa
Fredrick Asare Koforidua, Ghana,
Fredrick Asare
Koforidua, Ghana
SEO For Africa

If I Were A Startup...
Lee Segal, >1,800% Growth in 5 Years
Lee Segal
>1,800% Growth in 5 Years
Lisa Shepherd, $335k to $1.1 Mil in 2 years
Lisa Shepherd
$335k to $1.1 Mil in 2 years
If I Were A Startup... - Complete List

Famous Entrepreneurs
Elon Musk, PayPal
Elon Musk
PayPal
Walt Disney, Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Famous Entrepreneurs - Complete List

Entrepreneur Advice
Jeffrey Gitomer, The Sales Bible
Jeffrey Gitomer
The Sales Bible
Guy Kawasaki, The Art of the Start
Guy Kawasaki
The Art of the Start
Entrepreneur Advice - Complete List

Popular Articles
(Premium Authors)


Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

More Evan Carmichael
More Information