Students learn proper etiquette for socializing, dining with business professionals

Members of the IU Student Alumni Association gathered Monday at the DeVault Alumni Center for a free six-course dinner. What was the catch? It was a crash course on restaurant etiquette.

Joseph Boes, associate director of recruiting and marketing for the School of Optometry, conducted the lessons throughout the evening.

“I think we need to become a more polite society,” Boes said.

He gave instructions for each course and a top-10 list of his biggest dining pet peeves.

Top 10 Dining Mistakes:
1.     Talking with food in your mouth
2.     Elbows on the table
3.     Cells phones on; they should always be turned off
4.     Purses, cells, eyeglasses sitting on the table
5.     Poor posture: don’t let your back rest on the seat during a meal
6.     Picking teeth
7.     Eating too quickly or too slowly; keep pace with others
8.     Pushing a plate away from you: don’t move plates, in general
9.     Playing with hair, jewelry or fidgeting
10.    Speaking too loudly or too quietly

General rules for receptions and each course of the meal:

Hors d’oeuvres – You should hold the plate, napkin and wine glass in your left hand so the right hand is free to greet people.

Soup – Use the appropriate soup spoon and remember to never slurp the soup, blow on the soup or lean too much into the bowl.

Salad – Use the fork to the farthest left and the knife to the farthest right. Remember to cut the lettuce with the knife, not the fork.

Main course – Use the only fork and knife remaining. For meat, only cut one piece at a time. Depending on the other items, it might be appropriate to cut it with the knife for reasonable bites. Never use the fork like a shovel.

Dessert – Use the dessert fork in front of you. Coffee is usually served at this time as well.

Wine – Hold white wine by the stem, because your hands will warm the wine too quickly, which changes the taste. However, holding red wine by the base of the goblet is fine.

As the evening came to an end, Boes reminded students that sending thank-you notes is always appropriate after dinners or interviews. He said he finds etiquette very important, but does not think it has to be stuffy. He worked at the Kelly School of Business for 12 years, where he got the idea for the dinner after watching undergraduate students eat.

Sophomore Erika Katterjohn said the dinner was “a really valuable experience.”