We might be clueless when it comes to business etiquette. What are the do's and don'ts? You may not even have any idea that such movements from body language to hand shakes all comes into place when dealing with important people, or people from the business environment. Of course different cultures have different styles when it comes to etiquette, however, it is important for young entrepreneurs and working adults to learn some basic general etiquette to apply in our everyday life.
Ms. Angela Marcel Thexeira came to the rescue and gave us guidance to do it right. The C-Series event took place at the usual venue at KDU Section 13 Campus on 9 August 2011. There were approximately 30 participants who were eager to learn more and brush up their knowledge when dealing with business partners, clients, guests and people they meet. Ms. Thexeira took on the topic from handshakes, to conversation skills, to table manners, and the list went on.
About Ms. Angela Thexeira
She received her undergraduate qualification in Business Administration (with honours) from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia with a major in Marketing and minor in Management. She later then pursued a Master's Degree in Business Administration from Herriot Watt University, UK.
Her versatility in teaching various subjects such as Marketing, Management, Organisational Behaviour, Business Communication and Personal Development is portrayed throughout her 20 years of teaching and education management career.
Over the years, she has also mastered the art of business etiquette and protocol where she has extensively trained students in this area to shape young individuals to be successful professionals.
Besides teaching and training, she also done voice-overs for radio commercials and has gone through Commonwealth volunteer training programme for the 1998 KL Commonwealth Games, held in Malaysia. She also has experience in emceeing for major functions at different institutions that she was a part of.
She is currently the Senior Lecturer/ Programme Leader at the School of Business and Law, KDU University College.
Mr. Gurcharan Singh (Lecturer, School of Hospitality, Tourism and Culinary Arts, KDU UC) presenting on the MBA Preview.
She also conducted a few activities to get the participants involved like handshaking and exchanging business cards.
"The handshake is the first impression of a person. It is a woman's prerogative if she wants to shake hands or not."
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Everyday you go through your life, it is a protocol. We have to ensure our personal and professional image meets the corporate image standard. In a social setting, you need to know who you are introducing. In a formal setting, it is best to always give our full names and speak clearly. Never mumble and occasionally, put on a conversational lead when necessary."
When introducing people:
If you are introducing two people with the same rank, we usually give priority to the person we know first.
The ladies always gets introduced first, then the men. However, if it were two ladies, the age comes first. However , in a business setting, gender is not the priority.
Let's assume: If the younger person is a Manager, the rank always comes first in a Business setting and not the age. In a social setting, rank does not count. However, in Malaysia, a person's "Title" comes first. Example; Dato' / Tan Sri/ Datuk
Ms Thexeira also added in , "
Conversation is a two-way thing. You need to ensure that people understand you. We always keep it short and simple, avoiding anything too technical. Especially if one is an Engineer or Doctor, we will have to avoid any technical terms in a person's field of expertise."
What do you do if you forgot someone's name after being introduced?
We always try to hold on to their business cards as it is a very important tool. If possible, try remembering their names with something or someone you can relate too. If we did, apologize and ask for the second time but we cannot let this happen too often.
Ms. Thexeira noted that, "Our business cards is the window to our work. We must never forget to carry along our cards especially when attending a business function. Be mindful of the purposethat we are giving our cards. It is also not appropriate to write information on a person's business card and never return their cards once handed over to you, even if they ran out of cards."
Small talk
When we are doing small talks, we talk about something general and not something sensitive, especially to the person you just met. It is a two way traffic.
Dining etiquette and table manners:
"We always order the same amount as our host, or less. We must never over-study the menu. There are three important components when dining, namely; Dinnerware, flatware, and glassware. We must never pick up a cutlery set when we drop it but request for a new set. When we need to head to the loo, hang our napkin on the chair or the arm of the chair. Once done dining, fold the napkin and place it back at the side of the table. When passing the salt or pepper, we always pass two together even if they ask for one. The salt and pepper are inseparable."
She also taught the audience the way to hold our cutlery, placed them and handle them. Be it eating a bread or drinking our soup. The audience surely learned something new!
Overall, the audience had fun and found her presentation and topic very interesting and entertaining. She is a humorous speaker and her presentation definitely did not recognized the word "mundane" and "dull'. As a participant, Ms Lum Mei Foong commented, "I wished I was at this workshop 20 years ago."
On the VIP table (From left): Dr.Tan Hui Leng (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic), Mr. Ong Keng Siew (Managing Director, CEO of Paramount), Prof.Teoh Kok Soo (Vice Chancellor), and Ms. Patricia Chua (Special Project Director). 
