Dining Etiquette

Business meals are an important opportunity to build relationships, and having confidence in your manners is key to navigating the meal and representing your company well. Having good dining etiquette is also an important life skill that translates into overall confidence. This module is taught over a meal, which may be three or four courses, and may also be taught in the classroom without a meal. Prior to eating, the first part of this module reviews navigating your place setting, correctly using utensils, and some essential dinner table manners.

Then, before each course is served, we give an overview of the manners specific to that course, from wine and appetizers to dessert and coffee. We give the “why” for every manner—when people understand why, they are more likely to own the manner. Diners talk among themselves while they eat each course. During this time, your Post presenter can answer individual questions at each table, or we can also supply cards with questions to inspire conversation about dining etiquette.

Over dessert, we cover the social side of dining, with topics such as: arriving on time, tipping, conversation, ordering wine and/or your meal from the menu, how to be a good host or guest, dropping something on the floor or spilling your glass, how to inform a diner about something in his or her tooth, handling gendered manners such as holding chairs, and appropriate thank-yous.