How to improve your social manners at meals
From ArticleWorld
To Improve your Social Manners at Meals does not require either extensive training or expense. Following a few thumb rules at the dining table can enable one to bond better with family members while having a thoroughly good time. Meal times are very important in families where most members have jobs outside and the only time that they get to come together as a family is at the dinner table in the evenings. If one is new to this concept, there are many ways to avoid a strained atmosphere and a stilted conversation.
Few thumb rules
- One can start with helping everyone get their share of the food and passing dishes across to people.
- It is nice to start the conversation rolling by asking others about their day and paying attention to what they say because it is far nicer to listen than to speak.
- Avoid confrontations and sticky topics at meal times. Keep the conversation light and help to get over uncomfortable silences, if they occur, by introducing day to day, safe, topics.
- One can never go wrong with complimenting the cook about the meal.
- Sharing jokes and interesting incidents of the day makes meals times something that is looked forward to by each member of the family.
- Helping clear away the table at the end of the meal and putting left-overs in the refrigerator is always a help, and best accomplished if done as a team while keeping the talk to the minimum.
Do’s
- Do allow others to talk instead of hogging conversations.
- It is far easier to talk than to listen, so learn to listen with an attentive ear – it is fundamental to the art of good conversation.
- To maintain an easy atmosphere, it is important to flow with the conversation and to let the talk meander without guiding it too much.
Don’ts
Conversation is an art that takes time to learn so do not rush the learning process. Introducing topics that are inappropriate (just to keep the talk flowing) does not solve any purpose and you may end up doing more harm than good.