Speech on Why Table Manners is Important?

I am glad that we all have assembled here today. Today I will be putting forward my views on the topics – “good table manners and why they are so important?” before that I want to wish all of you a very good morning. I hope that you will pardon me for any mistake that I make while presenting my speech also I beg of your co operation throughout the time that I am presenting my speech.

There are some good manners and bad manners. But first of all, what are table manners? Table manners are those etiquette and rules which we follow while sitting and eating at the same table with others.

It is another name for politeness. Gone are the days when man used to lead a barbaric life and eat like beats whatever food was lying in front of him. Now is the age of modernization and with modernization comes sophistication.

So man has invented rules even to eat at a table. Funny right? Basic human instincts tell you to put out a chair, sit, and devour down the food.

But no, you can’t do that if you are at a business meeting or an official treat, you can’t do that when you go to a costly restaurant. In such places you actually need to show off your sophistication. This will impress people. And how will you do that? By good table manners, of course.

In India learning the right table manners is difficult. Because in India a majority of its population is poor and belong to backward classes.

Hence there are many families who hardly have a table! How will you learn table manners if you are in such a place? There is a custom in many places to sit on floor and eat. In some traditions sitting on floor and eating on a “chopai” is the norm. But table manners have to be learnt for the sake of ourselves and for a bright career prospective.

Generally, it is seen when people who don’t know proper table manners are called at a big place to dine, they end up nervous or making a fool out of themselves.

It is sad but nowadays children can grow up without learning any table manners just because they have no time to eat at a table! They may have never sat down and eaten as a family, they may only eat convenience foods with their fingers or there has never been an expectation to sit down whilst eating.

There are some basic table manners which we all can follow at our homes. Some of them are

• Washing our hands properly before sitting down at a table to eat
• When food is served wait for others to start eating and then you can start. Do not rush at eating food as immediately as it is served.
• Take frequent but small bites. Do not overfill your mouth with food.
• Do not talk while eating or while you have something in your mouth.
• Do not gulp down food. Take time to chew the food properly before swallowing.
• Learn to use spoon, forks and knives properly. Try using these items as gently as possible. Generating too much sound from them is bad manners
• Wipe off extra food, drink or water sticking to your lips whenever you feel so with a tissue
• Do not forget to say please whenever you want something to be served or passed to you. Like for example “could you pass me the salt please?” “can I please get some more tea?”
• Do not leave the table alone. Even if you are done eating you have to wait for other people in your group who are still eating. Once they are done, you all can leave the place together.
• When you pause during eating but have not finished, the utensils are placed in the “resting position” with the knife placed on the right side of the plate in the 4 o’clock position, blade in, and the fork placed on the left side in the 8 o’clock position, tines up. This alerts your waiter that you’re not finished. When you’ve finished eating, the knife and fork are placed side by side on the right side of the plate in the 4 o’clock position, with the fork on the inside, tines up, and the knife on the outside, blade in. This “I am finished” position non-verbally alerts the wait staff to clear your plate.

Hence, I would like to conclude my speech by saying that good table manners shape a character. Not only that, it shapes your workplace environment too.

If from first you are not able to make an impression then you also will be a victim to bullying. Learning good table manners is very easy hence it is high time for you to start learning good table manners.