Table Manners - Lesson Content

Description of Lesson Content

This section of the course on Formal Place Settings and Manners will cover more of the manner aspects to a formal event. Last session we talked about the place setting and the main pieces that make up that setting. We also touched on some of the manners associated with the place setting. This section we will talk about the actions that should happen or not happen while at a formal dinner party. This will include arrival and departure times, the direction food and other passed items travel around the table, server communication, how to work with condiments and general behavior.

Goals and Objectives:
By the end of this session the learner will be able to
·List 5 general behavior do’s and don’ts when attending a formal dinner party
·State direction of flow at the table, and what specific things the direction applies to
·Describe how to place the silverware on the plate to communicate when one is finished vs getting up from the table and returning, or that they are just taking a breather.
·List 5 possible condiments and how to deal with each

Description of Each Segment:
This session will be broken into 4 parts:
·Flow and function at the table – this section will talk about the importance of directionality of the table and how this helps with communication between the guests and the servers.
·Guest and Server Communication – at a formal dinner event there are many things that must go unspoken. This section will prepare the learner for these situations. We will go through the various things that a guest can do to allow the server to do his or her job and allow the guest the best experience possible.
·Condiments – there are various condiments like butter, salt and pepper, relish, gravy, etc. that have different ways of use. This section will go through some of the most relevant condiments as well as some of the obscure and what to do with each.
·General Behaviors – there are some general rules that should be followed, including not chewing with your mouth open, not arriving late, and not being the last guest to leave long after the stated end time. This section will list some of those essential behaviors, where they originated from and why they are important.