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So you know not to tuck your napkin into your collar – but it’s amazing how many faux pas are still actually committed, whether you’re entertaining over dinner or at an informal networking event, writes Tina Lofthouse.
A business-woman sits at a table in a top restaurant waiting for her client. As she waits she applies lipstick, combs her hair – and then reaches into her suit jacket and pulls her breasts up in her bra. Her guest arrives. Phew, thank god he hadn’t turned up a split second earlier. She then notices with horror the mirrored wall facing her, which would have been fully visible as he made his way from the entrance to the table. And yes, he’d seen her in action, as had several other diners.
Mortifying, absolutely – and one of several cringe-worthy anecdotes told by Linda Allan, a management consultant and coach specialising in business behaviours, on what not to do when client entertaining. ‘I’ve seen people clean their specs or mop their head with a dinner napkin,’ she says.
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