This cast gives our guidance on how to conduct yourself during an interview.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll probably say it again, interviews are nerve-wracking. For everyone. In some ways it’s like meeting your girlfriend’s parents for the first time. There’s that feeling of desperately wanting to impress and of being on your best behavior. We call the right behavior in that circumstance ‘etiquette’ or ‘manners’. Fortunately, etiquette rescues us during interviews too.

Debrett’s Guide to British Behaviour says of manners: Manners are valuable in this world for the simple reason that well-mannered people know how to set others around at their ease, know how to make the world feel a more civilised, friendly and calm place, and like to put others' comfort ahead of their own. Would you be more or less likely to employ someone who made you feel that way? Of course, you would be more likely, we all want to be around people like that. So, what to do?

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This show describes a couple of simple techniques to help you remember people's names.

Whether we like it or not, other people are part of our professional lives. And, as Dale Carnegie sagely noted, "A person's name, to that person, is the sweetest and most important sound in any language."

But how to remember them? It vexes the best of us.

And one of the keys: you really don't have to.

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This podcast is the second of two on the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal.

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This podcast details all the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal.

We have NO EXCUSE for why we didn't do this podcast 2 years ago. We get this question all the time, so much so that we're making it part of the standard weekly show rather than restricting it to the interview tool. Meal interviews are becoming more and more common, even as they become ever less intelligent as a tool.

The cast is really just a long list of small tips – there is very little overarching strategy to share. The STRATEGY is clear, though, right? It's an INTERVIEW!

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This cast explains how to introduce one person to another in social and business settings.

We surprised some of our members a couple of years ago when we included podcasts on how to attend a party, and how to introduce oneself to someone else. Some saw this as "etiquette", which the modern business world had, in a sense, done away with. And certainly the world of commerce has changed how people interact, making much of our lives less formal than perhaps they were before.

But at the same time, we've also noticed that the blurring of work and family time means more of us are exposed, AT WORK, to situations that call on basic rules of social courtesy. Those managers who do well in these situations are seen as more polished and as better communicators - in short, better future executives.

So, don't think of this cast as one about "etiquette". It's not. It's about courtesy ... and getting promoted.

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Can there possibly be anything more to say about business meal etiquette?

Yep! Today we conclude our 2-part series on Meal Etiquette.

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Good business practice demands good relationships - with customers, suppliers, team members, and bosses. And good relationships usually means breaking bread together. So, are you up to speed on how to have a business meal? Or even worse, HOST the meal yourself?

You are? GOOD! Then you already know when to start talking business, and whether it's different at breakfast, lunch and dinner. You know how much alcohol to drink, and how many glasses of wine there are in a bottle. And the ideal way to pay for a meal, or what to do when the check comes. If you know all THAT, then we bet you also know where to seat your guests, and yourself, whether there are 2 or three of you. And, of course, what to order, and what NOT to order. Soup, you say? NO.

And if you're not sure... that's why there's a Manager Tools podcast covering all that and more.

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