The document provides etiquette guidelines for attending cocktail events, emphasizing the importance of building connections rather than focusing on food and drinks. It advises on maintaining a professional demeanor, engaging in appropriate conversations, and handling food properly. Additional tips include managing drink consumption, avoiding controversial topics, and disposing of food waste discreetly.

1. Chapter 22
Cocktails

2. Cocktails
Cocktails are pleasant way to meet people an
get to know them
Companies often invite business associates
and customers to cocktails to meet and
strengthen relationships

3. When attending a cocktail…
…walk in with your head held high and with
enthusiasm
…you are going there to meet people, so the bar or
the snack counter should not be the first stop
The purpose id not free food and drinks, it is to meet
people and make connections
Make eye contact while having a discussion

4. Your conversation should be clean and without any
sexual undertones
Keep away from controversial subjects like politics
and religion and from gossip
Drink sparingly.
Never drink on an empty stomach. The risk of losing
control or being indiscreet is too much

5. Do not stand and talk to at the bar or the food
counter. Take what you want and move away
While eating or drinking, keep the right hand free as
you need to use it often to shake hands
The food, drink and napkin should be in the left hand
Do not fill you plate to let it overflow

6. When the food is served on tooth picks or cocktail
sticks, the problem is what to do with it. Do not put
them back on the serving tray
Put them in the container provided for it or in an
ashtray on a table nearby
If nothing is available, wrap it in a napkin and dispose
it later

7. Guide lines for difficult food
Olives with pits are held in fingers and eaten in several
bites. The pit is then disposed in the side of your plate, in
an ashtray or into a napkin
When eating a shrimp with the tail still on, hold the shrimp
by the tail and dip it into the sauce once. Eat it in one bite if
not too large.
Crudités are dipped into accompanying sauce only once.
Never dip it again after you have had a bite
Bite carefully into cherry tomatoes or puff pastry to avoid
spraying yourself and everyone within arms length

8. Always exercise caution to avoid burning yourself when biting
into hot d’oeuvres.
Test the temperature with the tip of your tongue as usually the
temperature may be higher inside
When the d’oeuvres are unpleasant to taste, don’t spit it out.
Turn your back to the others before transferring it from your
mouth to the cocktail napkin. Find a waste paper basket and
dispose it