This situation happens all the time to every professional, even if they are not in a client-facing role: You have to meet a colleague, your boss or a prospective customer for a meal. On the surface, it may not seem like a big deal. But we all know how awkward it can be to eat a messy meal like a burger in front of someone, where it’s almost impossible to look graceful. And how tough it is at a networking event to eat finger food and balance a drink in your other hand while trying to look professional and smooth networking with someone.
There are other situations as well. Sometimes you’re asked to recommend a dish, or you don’t know whether it’s appropriate to order an alcoholic beverage or not. How do you know what to order?
Whether you realize it or not, your meal choices can say a lot about you. And while you do want to respect your diet, whether you are vegetarian or gluten-free or love to eat meat, you can make choices that will make a good impression and avoid potentially embarrassing situations, or you can make bad ones. For example, continually taking clients to the same unimpressive, unclean bar and ordering wings, fried cheese sticks and nachos for business lunches can make a bad impression. If that type of food is typical for your group of friends, that’s fine! And if it’s common in your industry, that’s OK too. But for some professional arenas, that type of fare sends the wrong message.
In Hallie’s US News article you will discover potential problems you could run into and how to avoid them. Read on here.
